Staggering autopen trail exposes chaos in Biden's final days... now pardons face unprecedented review
The US Department of Justice is being asked to review every single executive action taken by the Biden administration following a months-long inquiry by top investigators in the US House of Representatives.
A lengthy report released Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee — led by Republican Chairman James Comer — describes the deeply 'flawed process', akin to a 'presidential pardon game of telephone' used in the Biden White House.
Among the most controversial measures taken via autopen by the former president were the pardons of Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and members of Congress who served on the January 6th committee. Biden also pardoned members of his family - James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden - on his last full day in office.
The House Committee, led by Comer, is effectively asking the Department of Justice to invalidate Biden's actions, including some of his most controversial pardons - a move that would be without precedent.
A 1869 federal court ruling notes that, 'the law undoubtedly is, that when a pardon is complete, there is no power to revoke it, any more than there is power to revoke any other completed act.'
In total, President Biden issued 149 executive actions during his time as president. A Heritage Foundation report released earlier this year showed that Biden used the autopen as early as day five in office.
Comparatively, President Donald Trump has already signed 210 Executive orders in 2025, preferring to conduct those signings with a large media presence. Trump signed 220 executive orders during the entirety of his first term.
Joe Biden's only hand-signed pardon during his final months in office was also his most controversial - his son, Hunter.
Joe and Jill Biden walk on the South Lawn of the White House after arriving on Marine One in Washington, D.C., US, on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022
An image of an autopen signing Biden's signature is displayed in place of a portrait of Biden next to portraits of U.S President Donald Trump at the 'Presidential Walk of Fame' along the Colonnade at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 5
Tuesday's report exposes how 'Biden's top advisors, political operatives, and personal physician concealed the President's mental and physical decline from the American people, per the Oversight Committee's letter.
Capitol Hill Republicans have used every tool at their disposal to uncover potential misconduct by former President Joe Biden's top White House aides since the investigation was announced earlier this summer.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer issued formal subpoenas to Biden's former White House Physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, as well as other top Biden aides, Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini.
While other former top Biden aides did testify, all three aforementioned aides pleaded the Fifth Amendment, invoking the right against self-incrimination when asked to testify by Comer's committee. The Daily Mail has reached out to a point of contact for former Biden aides for comment.
The refusal of Dr. O'Connor to testify before the House Oversight Committee raised numerous red flags for investigators, who have also asked for his medical license to be reviewed following the release of their report.
In a letter to Dr. Andrea Anderson, Board Chair of the DC Board of Medicine, Comer notes that 'The Committee has found that President Biden's aides coordinated a cover-up of the president's diminishing faculties.'
Comer additionally notes that the board should investigate if O'Connor 'was derelict in his duty as a physician by, including but not limited to, issuing misleading medical reports, misrepresenting treatments, failing to conform to standards of practice, or other acts in violation of District of Columbia law regulating licensed physicians.'
Comer also suggests that the Board punish O'Connor by imposing 'discipline, sanction, or revocation of his medical license.'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former chief medical adviser to President Biden, becomes emotional after being asked about threats to him and his family, as he testifies before a House Oversight and Reform Select Subcommittee hearing on the Coronavirus Pandemic, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 3, 2024
Another top doc in former President Biden's orbit, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is sure to face increased scrutiny as well.
In Capitol Hill's upper chamber, Senator Rand Paul is leading an investigation into Fauci, and has asked him to testify before Congress once more.
Senator Paul exclusively told the Daily Mail last month, in the midst of a Kentucky campaign swing, that there are serious questions about Fauci's pardon, which was among those signed by Biden via autopen.
'There's a question of whether or not that's a valid pardon,' Paul said at the time, adding that 'the only way to determine that is to take it to court.'
Paul also expressed doubts at the time that Biden 'may not have been aware of what he was pardoning,' a view supported by new evidence from House investigators in their latest report.
House Oversight's report shed light on the never-before-exposed chain of command in the Biden White House, which appears to have relied heavily on secondary and tertiary information passed along by decision makers who were not even present in certain meetings.
Investigators describe the chain of command as 'lax', and the instances of the 'clemency actions taken in the final days of the Biden presidency' are described as the 'most flagrant.'
One particular instance laid out in the report highlights former White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients admitting that not all decisions made by the president were formally documented. Investigators also note several times that Biden made executive decisions verbally.
US President Joe Biden (L) stands with (from L) daughter Ashley Biden, daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen Biden, grandson Beau, son Hunter Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden to view a Christmas tree lighting in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 29, 2024
The pardons of Biden family members were communicated 'second-hand' to a Zients aide, Rosa Po, who informed Zients about the pardons. He then 'verbally authorized the use of the autopen from home' without knowing who actually executed the signatures.
Acting through his aide's email, Zients approved the autopen's use for the clemency actions without confirming with President Biden that those were in fact his wishes.
Due to concerns about the president's mental state and the opaque approval process, the Committee has deemed all autopen-signed executive actions without direct, written presidential consent to be invalid.
