Overview

• Biden told The New York Times he used an autopen to sign roughly 25 pardon and commutation warrants in late 2024 and early 2025 but said he personally approved every clemency decision despite the volume.
• Internal emails reviewed by the Times show he set broad criteria for categorical pardons while aides routed final warrant lists through the signature device without securing his autograph on each individual name.
• The Justice Department and the GOP-led House Oversight Committee have opened parallel investigations into whether the autopen use and any potential cover-up of Biden’s mental fitness violated federal law.
• Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s former White House physician, invoked physician–patient privilege and the Fifth Amendment to refuse testimony before the Oversight Committee.
• President Trump and Oversight Chair James Comer allege aides conspired to use the autopen without direct presidential approval, a charge Biden dismisses as partisan smears.