Trump Claims He Is Invalidating Biden’s Autopen-Signed Documents; Legal Experts Dismiss Move

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is terminating all documents, including pardons, allegedly signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen — a long-standing device used by presidents of both parties to replicate signatures for routine or ceremonial documents. Trump and his supporters have repeatedly pushed unsubstantiated claims that Biden’s use of the autopen undermined the legitimacy of his official actions, though it remains unclear whether Biden used the device on any pardons.

Legal experts swiftly rejected Trump’s declaration, saying there is no constitutional basis for voiding a previous president’s pardons. Scholars from Stanford, the University of St. Thomas, and Michigan State University noted that only a court could challenge a pardon’s validity, and even then, it would require proving that Biden did not authorize it. Biden, who issued several pardons and commutations before leaving office, has not commented on Trump’s statement.

The move comes as Trump continues to aggressively use presidential pardon powers in his second term, issuing 70 pardons in the first 10 months alone — far outpacing recent predecessors. On Wednesday, he pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, convicted in the U.S. on cocaine trafficking charges, claiming without evidence that the case was a politically motivated “witch hunt” by the Biden administration.

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