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Former U.S. president Joe Biden‘s worsening cognitive decline during his term in office was a poorly kept secret – until it wasn’t. But were his aides keeping something even more pernicious from the American public as they hid his deteriorating condition?
According to the Oversight Project – run under the auspices of the Heritage Foundation – the answer to that question is a troubling “yes.”
Kyle Brosnan, chief legal counsel for the project, told Bill O’Reilly last week that Biden did not physically sign pardons for numerous individuals including discredited coronavirus czar Anthony Fauci, former joint chiefs chairman Mark Milley and members of House select committee which investigated the January 6, 2021 rioting at the U.S. Capitol. Biden also failed to physically sign commutations for 37 of the 40 inmates on the federal government’s death row, per Brosnan.
“We have found evidence that president Biden did not hand-sign multiple pardons and acts of clemency throughout his presidency – including the pardons of the January 6 committee members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Milley and the commutation for everyone on federal death row in the waning days of his administration,” he said.
Brosnan told O’Reilly the liberal use of the autopen combined with the fact “Biden was clearly out of it” – that his “mental faculties were diminishing throughout his presidency” – raised legitimate questions as to the constitutionality of these edicts.
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? Autopen Update ?
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) March 11, 2025
We analyzed Biden's Jan. 19, 2025 "pardons" for:
-Biden Family Members
-Anthony Fauci
-General Milley
-J6 Committee
-Gerald Lundergan
They all have the same exact Biden autopen signature https://t.co/jc6mkx37il pic.twitter.com/8VeBDwLNv7
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“It begs the question of, who was running the country?” he asked. “Who had authorization to sign these pardons? Who had access to the autopen?”
Not long after the Heritage Foundation released its findings, reporter Steven Nelson of The New York Post published a report citing former White House sources who claimed a “key former aide” to Biden “exceeded their authority by liberally using an autopen to sign official documents.”
Per Nelson’s report, “a key aide to the then-president may have made unilateral determinations on what to auto-sign.”
The Post declined to name the staffer “due to the lack of concrete evidence and refutations by other colleagues,” but its report quoted one former Biden aide anonymously as saying this individual “basically was the president” and that “no one ever questioned (them), period.”
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Not surprisingly, Trump jumped at the revelations – declaring early Monday morning that the pardons Biden gave to “the unselect committee of political thugs, and many others” were “void, vacant and of no further force or effect.”
“Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump stated. “The necessary pardoning documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the unselect committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year witch hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”
Trump also posted this meme to his Truth Social account…
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Trump has yet to take any formal executive action on the ostensibly “voided” pardons. In the event he does, such orders would likely prompt lengthy court battles.
In fact, Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Sunday evening that the ultimate determination of the legality of Biden’s pardons is “not my decision.”
“That would be up to a court,” Trump said.
Biden’s pardons were seen by many as an abuse of his authority – not to mention counter to the ideals of justice. His administration was also repeatedly chided for weaponizing the executive branch of government to cover his own misdeeds while targeting his political enemies.
Auto-pens have been used by presidents for decades, but it wasn’t until the administration of Barack Obama that they were used to sign documents enforcing the powers of the presidency. Trump’s administration has taken steps to limit the use of the practice, per his press office.
Keep it tuned to FITSNews to see what comes next in this high-stakes constitutional drama…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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2 comments
Trump really needs to get over his Biden obsession. It is borderline psychotic how he can’t go a day without whining about Biden. It’s only going to get worse.
Sort of like how Biden at al whined about Trump every day hunh? Frankly, I’m a little tired of it too, for better or worse, Trump owns it all now and it’s time to focus on important stuff.