Overview

• The Justice Department’s pardon attorney, Ed Martin, was directed by the Trump administration to probe clemency decisions made by Biden in the waning days of his term.
• The review targets five preemptive pardons for Biden family members and the commuted sentences of 37 federal inmates spared from execution.
• Investigators are examining whether Biden was mentally competent and if aides relied on an AutoPen device to sign pardon orders.
• A 2005 Justice Department memo deemed autopen use valid for presidential signatures, but Martin maintains the pardons warrant further scrutiny.
• Critics argue the probe is politically motivated by doubts over Biden’s health after his cancer diagnosis, but his aides maintain he was fully capable of issuing pardons.