AG Pam Bondi reviewing Biden pardons signed by autopen

Attorney General Pam Bondi said her office is reviewing former President Biden's use of an autopen for pardons after a House Oversight report questioned their validity.The big picture: The new congressional report argued that any executive actions signed by autopen without written proof of Biden's approval should be voided, a claim legal scholars say is not backed by the Constitution.For months, President Trump has raged over Biden's autopen use and claimed that the former president's pardons should be "VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT" because they were "done by Autopen."In a statement posted on X, Bondi said, "My team has already initiated a review of the Biden administration's reported use of autopen for pardons."Friction point: Legal scholars previously told Axios that other presidents have used autopen and that Trump's rationale behind his claims was unlikely to succeed in court.A 2005 memorandum opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel said the president may sign a bill by directing a subordinate to "affix the President's signature to it."But it emphasized that "we are not suggesting that the President may delegate the decision to approve and sign a bill, only that, having made this decision, he may direct a subordinate to affix the President's signature to the bill."Driving the news: The letter to Bondi, signed by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), came in tandem with the committee's report alleging a cover-up of what it said was evidence of Biden's declining health.The report claimed the White House didn't record Biden's approval for some executive actions signed by autopen, including the pardons signed in the final days of the Biden White House.It questioned "the validity of all pardons reportedly granted by President Biden throughout his tenure," saying it "deems void" all autopen-signed executive actions without the president's written approval.The letter also urged Bondi to investigate Biden aides accused by Republicans of coordinating a "cover-up" within the White House.Yes, but: The 2005 Justice Department opinion said a president "need not be present when his signature is affixed."Catch up quick: Biden told the New York Times in July that he made "every single" clemency decision. Near the end of his term, Biden preemptively pardoned family members over concerns they could become potential Trump targets. He also commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses and 1,500 in home confinement, and he reduced sentences for 37 of the 40 people on death row to life without possibility of parole.The other side: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the committee's top Democrat, slammed the investigation as a "sham," saying the testimonies show the "former President authorized every executive order, pardon, and use of the autopen."Democrats released their own far shorter report. It says that "not a single witness could corroborate Republican claims that the autopen was used to issue an executive order, presidential memorandum, or any form of clemency without President Biden's knowledge or authorization."The Democrats also accused Republicans of turning a "blind eye" to Trump's comment that he didn't sign his proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act and that "other people handled it." What they're saying: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) described the situation as "unprecedented" in a Tuesday news conference, falsely claiming "no previous president had an autopen" or "had the audacity" to have things signed "when they didn't even know what was in it." President Obama authorized the use of an autopen to sign legislation to extend the Patriot Act in 2011. Trump himself has acknowledged he may use it "to send some young person a letter."Go deeper: Trump "Walk of Fame" trolls Biden with autopen signature in place of portrait

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