Biden Defends Controversial Autopen Use For Mass Clemency Decisions In Nyt Interview: 'a Whole Lot Of People'

Former President Joe Biden defended his usage of an autopen during a caller interview, shedding ray connected his administration's rationale for nan arguable usage of nan technology.

The question and reply pinch nan New York Times was centered astir his usage of an autopen during nan past pardons that he made during nan extremity of his administration.

In his last weeks successful office, Biden granted clemency and pardoned much than 1,500 individuals, successful what nan White House described astatine nan clip arsenic nan largest single-day enactment of clemency by a U.S. president.

Speaking to nan Times connected Thursday, Biden said that he "made each decision" connected his own.

HERE ARE BIDEN'S MOST CONTROVERSIAL PARDONS, WITH MOST SIGNED USING AUTOPEN

In his last weeks successful office, President Joe Biden granted clemency and pardoned much than 1,500 individuals. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"We’re talking astir [granting clemency to] a full batch of people," nan Democrat said.

However, nan Times reported that Biden "did not individually o.k. each sanction for nan categorical pardons that applied to ample numbers of people," according to nan erstwhile president and his aides.

"Rather, aft extended chat of different imaginable criteria, [Biden] signed disconnected connected nan standards he wanted to beryllium utilized to find which convicts would suffice for a simplification successful sentence," nan Times's study read.

Instead of many times asking nan president to resign updated versions of charismatic documents, his unit utilized an autopen to put Biden's signature connected nan last version.

Biden's comments came arsenic Republicans attacked him for his autopen usage connected a monolithic number of charismatic documents.

In June, President Donald Trump sent a memo to nan Department of Justice directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to analyse nan autopen use, and to find whether it was related to a diminution successful Biden's intelligence state.

U.S. President Joe Biden yells retired to nan property while departing nan 102nd National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony connected nan Ellipse connected Dec. 5, 2024 successful Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

BIDEN ONLY HAND-SIGNED ONE PARDON DURING FINAL SPREE, AND IT WAS HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL ONE

"In caller months, it has go progressively evident that erstwhile President Biden's aides abused nan powerfulness of Presidential signatures done nan usage of an autopen to conceal Biden's cognitive diminution and asseverate Article II authority," Trump wrote. 

"This conspiracy marks 1 of nan astir vulnerable and concerning scandals successful American history. The American nationalist was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded nan executive power, each while Biden's signature was deployed crossed thousands of documents to effect extremist argumentation shifts."

Also successful June, Trump told reporters that he thought it was "inappropriate" to usage an autopen astatine all, though past presidents person utilized them.

"Usually, erstwhile they put documents successful beforehand of you, they're important," Trump said. "Even if you're signing ambassadorships aliases – and I see that important, I deliberation it's inappropriate."

President Joe Biden's usage of an autopen has been criticized by Republicans. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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"You person personification that's devoting 4 years of their life aliases much to being an ambassador. I deliberation you really merit that personification deserves to get a existent signature… not an autopen signature." 

Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.