New Emails Reveal Biden’s Own DOJ Red-Flagged President Autopen’s Last Minute Pardons

Newly released DOJ emails are shining new light on the depth of the controversy surrounding Joe Biden’s autopen pardons and commutations during his administration’s final days.

The documents, disclosed by DOJ official Ed Martin, confirmed that the pardons and commutations were so egregious that his own justice department raised concerns about them, specifically when it came to violent offenders being released back into the wild.

The autpen scandal was first brought to public attention by the Oversight Project, which uncovered that thousands of acts of clemency and executive actions had been authorized using the autopen rather than Biden’s personal signature.

The Justice Department emails further show that Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer flagged serious issues with the practice. In a message dated January 18, just two days before Biden left office, Weinsheimer warned administration lawyers that the language used in one sweeping warrant signed with the autopen was “highly problematic.”

He cautioned that the vague wording of the document, which granted clemency to hundreds of inmates, risked making the commutations legally “ineffective.” More significantly, Weinsheimer noted that the lack of specificity could result in pardons being applied to crimes of violence—including murder—contrary to what Biden had intended.

Weinsheimer also raised objections about the Justice Department being sidelined from the process. He wrote that DOJ officials had been blocked from vetting clemency candidates and that pardons were granted despite “voluminous objections” from victims’ families.

Among the cases highlighted were pardons for individuals convicted of murdering police officers and children. The emails suggest Biden aides moved forward with the autopen approvals despite internal warnings that the clemency orders were overly broad and potentially unlawful.