"After the political backlash to President Biden pardoning his son Hunter last Dec. 1, the White House began pushing to find more people to grant clemency to, according to people familiar with the internal dynamics. "There was a mad dash to find groups of people that he could then pardon - and then they largely didn't run it by the Justice Department to vet them," a person familiar with the process told Axios."
"Biden granted clemency to more people than any president in U.S. history - 4,245 people. More than 95% of those actions occurred in the final 3½ months of his presidency, according to Pew Research. Many of those actions, including pardoning other members of his family on his last day in office, were signed using an autopen - a computerized version of the president's signature that didn't require him to physically sign the document."
"Near the beginning of his presidency in 2021, incoming staff secretary Jess Hertz wrote a memo to Biden, citing precedent from the Obama administration to argue his original signature should still be used for "pardon letters." By 2025, Biden had opted for the autopen to pardon five members of his family - including his brother and sister, who had been accused of leveraging the Biden family name for financial benefit."
President Trump invoked President Biden's clemency process to defend several of his own contentious pardons and commutations. After backlash over Biden's pardon of his son, the White House pushed to identify additional clemency recipients and reportedly often bypassed Justice Department vetting. Biden granted 4,245 clemencies, more than any prior president, with over 95% occurring in the final 3½ months of the term. Many of the late actions were executed with an autopen. Biden's use of the autopen included pardons for five family members, a decision tied to internal meetings and emails.
Read at Axios
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