A groundbreaking new memo outlining the Biden administration’s pardon approval process appears to indicate that the frail president was passing off his responsibilities to former Vice President Kamala Harris.The document, obtained by Just The News, further fuels theories that former President Joe Biden was not lucid or otherwise aware of pardons that were being signed using an autopen replicating his signature. Biden insisted earlier this year that he approved the broad contours of pardons but was not given the name of every individual who received one.
Aides to Biden believed it was critical to get his verbal sign-off before a pardon was signed using the autopen, the outlet states. In a shocking twist, Biden deferred to Harris when he claimed to be unable to review the circumstances of a pardon application.
The memo was contained in a batch of documents gathered by the Trump administration as it seeks to uncover who may have directed the use of the White House autopen during Biden’s final weeks in office. Officials have focused heavily on prominent pardons granted to Hunter Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, and others who Biden claimed may have faced criminal prosecution when Trump returned to office.
It’s uncertain whether Biden attended four clemency meetings related to pardons, according to the memo. The meetings included discussions on preemptive pardons for members of Biden’s family and prisoners on federal death row.
The National Archives and Records Administration told the Trump administration it could not locate “specific meeting notes that clearly mention or note that the President was present” for the meetings, according to documents reviewed by Just The News.
“President Biden’s decision memo on commuting federal death row sentences is unmarked, and NARA cannot find a version indicating President Biden’s approval,” the documents added.
According to the Pew Research Center, President Biden holds the record for granting the most presidential pardons in four years, at 4,245.
In June, President Trump ordered White House officials to explore whether Biden’s “original hand signature” was present on some of the most prominent pardons granted during his final days. A search led to the discovery that an autopen was used for most or all of the documents.
Less than a month after Biden took office in January 2021, White House Staff Secretary Jess Hertz distributed a memo that set guidelines for the use of the autopen and whether certain presidential actions would require a physical signature.
The February 2021 draft memo states that senior officials urged Biden to personally sign “pardon letters” with an “original hand signature,” operating in line with past procedures set during the Obama-Biden administration, the outlet reported.
“Based on precedent from the Obama-Biden Administration regarding which documents generally are hand-signed by the President, our recommendation is that as a general rule, YOU personally approve and hand-sign all decisions that require Presidential action,” the memo reads.
Copied on the memo were Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Bruce Reed, and Director of White House Oval Office Operations Annie Tomasini. However, there is no record that it was ever turned over to the National Archives.
That policy appears to have been overridden by a February 2024 memo from the White House chief counsel, which described a “general pattern” for obtaining clemency decisions. The document shows that Biden grew increasingly reliant on Harris to make the final determination about presidential pardons during his final year in office.
“Note: Given the President’s schedule, it can often take days or weeks for the President to review and approve the clemency package,” the lawyers’ memo reads. “The Chief of Staff’s office has been helpful in getting the paper in front of him for his review.”
“He previously asked the White House Counsel to discuss the candidates with him, although in the last round the Vice President’s approval was sufficient to obtain his approval,” the lawyers noted.
The Trump White House argued the second document proves Biden was “outsourcing” the approval of pardons to his No. 2, the outlet reported.
