Biden’s officials express objections of final issued pardons

(MENAFN) Internal officials reportedly expressed objections to how former President Joe Biden’s team managed a series of sweeping pardons issued just before he left office. The pardons, which drew widespread criticism, included clemency for his son Hunter, who had previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion and gun offenses.

“There was a mad dash to find groups of people that he could then pardon – and they largely didn’t run it by the Justice Department to vet them,” a source said.

Many of the pardons were processed using an autopen, a device that replicates the president’s signature, reportedly authorized by Biden’s chief of staff, with his aide frequently sending the authorizations via email. A senior Justice Department ethics attorney criticized the approach in a January memo, noting that the former president’s statement describing the pardons was “untrue, or at least misleading,” while highlighting a list of violent offenders who were also released.

White House staff reportedly questioned the autopen’s use, with one official asking, “When did we get [Biden’s] approval of this?”

Biden later maintained that he personally made “every decision” and justified the autopen as a method to handle the high volume of documents. Records suggest, however, that he only needed to sign “a few documents for every large group of people he granted clemency,” according to reports.

In total, Biden granted pardons to 4,245 individuals, with more than 95% finalized during the closing months of his presidency. The former president argued that his son’s prosecution had been politically motivated.

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