Government lawyers reportedly believed the ex-president failed to properly vet the criminals whose sentences he commuted
Former US President Joe Biden’s own officials objected to how his team handled the sweeping pardons issued shortly before he left office, Axios reported on Sunday, citing internal emails and people familiar with the matter.
Biden faced widespread criticism for granting clemency to his son Hunter, despite pledging not to do so. Hunter Biden had previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion and gun violations.
“There was a mad dash to find groups of people that he could then pardon – and they largely didn’t run it by the Justice Department to vet them,” a source told Axios.
Many of the pardons were signed with an autopen, a device that replicates the president’s signature. The move was reportedly authorized by Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, with his aide Rosa Po frequently sending the authorizations by email.
Bradley Weinsheimer, a senior ethics attorney at the Justice Department, wrote a scathing memo in January, a day after Biden freed thousands of criminals he described as non-violent drug offenders, Axios said. Weinsheimer argued that Biden’s statement was “untrue, or at least misleading,” and provided a list of violent offenders released as a result.
In January, White House staff secretary Stef Feldman reportedly questioned the use of the autopen, asking: “When did we get [Biden’s] approval of this?”
Biden later insisted he had made “every decision” himself and claimed the autopen was needed to process a large number of documents. However, records indicate he only had to sign “a few documents for every large group of people he granted clemency,” according to Axios.
Biden ultimately pardoned 4,245 people, with more than 95% of those decisions made in the final months of his presidency, the outlet said. The former president argued at the time that the prosecution of his son was politically motivated.
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