Trump says pardons are ‘void’ because of autopen: ‘I don’t think Biden knew anything about it’

Former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons for members of a House committee on the Jan. 6 attack are “void” and “vacant” because Biden used an autopen to sign them, President Donald Trump said.

Trump made the argument in a post on Truth Social early on Monday, according to Axios.

He declared the pardons “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT” and that the “necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden,” Axios said.

“I think so. It’s not my decision. That’ll be up to a court. But I would say that they’re null and void because I’m sure Biden didn’t have any idea that it was taking place,” Trump said on Air Force One.

“I don’t think Biden knew anything about it.”

Members of the House committee, which investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, should “fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level,” Trump wrote, according to Axios.

He also claimed, without evidence, that the committee members themselves were responsible for their own pardons, without Biden’s knowledge, according to ABC News.

In the final days of his presidency, Biden issued a number of preemptive pardons. They granted immunity to people Trump had targeted with threats to investigate or jail, Axios said.

The list includes members of the Jan. 6 panel.

The panel’s members were Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was then a House member; former Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.; and current Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., according to NBC News.

Experts said it was unlikely a court would allow a president to revoke a predecessor’s pardons, according to Axios.

NBC noted that the Constitution grants the president unique powers to issue pardons. It contains no provision for rescinding them for issues relating to how they were signed or anything else.

Trump has faced push back from judges in some of the legal cases that have been filed against his actions during his second term so far, including efforts to fire some federal workers.