In an early morning announcement, President Donald Trump declared Monday that former President Joe Biden’s rash of preemptive pardons issued during his last days in office are “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect.”
Biden had extended clemency to former Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, members and staff of the House January 6 Select Committee, law enforcement officers who testified before the committee panel, and other people he anticipated the next Trump administration would target.
But Trump claimed Biden “knew nothing about” the pardons because the documents were signed using an Autopen device, rather than the former president’s own hand.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary pardoning documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden,” Trump claimed in a social media post. “He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime.”
The president also claimed the members on the House January 6 Select Committee — which he called the “Unselect Committee” — were “probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf” by Biden and “should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”
Members of the committee, which investigated the Capitol attack in 2021, include former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and former Congressman, now Senator, Adam Schiff of California.
“The members of the Jan 6 Committee are all proud of our work,” Schiff fired back at Trump on X. “Your threats will not intimidate us. Or silence us.”
A Republican House oversight report in December called for the FBI to investigate Cheney, a Republican, for alleged collusion with a Jan. 6 witness and other possible legal violations, The Center Square reported.
