Overview

• Biden told The New York Times that he personally made every decision on clemencies in his final weeks and used the autopen solely to sign nearly 4,000 pardons and commutations.
• He cited a 2005 Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion to defend the autopen’s legality and noted that previous presidents employed the device for high-volume actions.
• Emails from a Jan. 19 meeting show aides drafted summaries of Biden’s oral approvals before directing the autopen to execute the final clemency warrants.
• The Justice Department and the GOP-led House Oversight Committee have opened investigations, issuing subpoenas to former aides and reviewing internal emails over potential misuse of the autopen and concealed cognitive issues.
• In closed-door depositions, Biden’s former White House physician Kevin O’Connor invoked physician–patient privilege and the Fifth Amendment in declining to answer Oversight panel questions.