In a revealing interview with the New York Times, former president Joe Biden admitted to not having personally supervised or signed the thousands of pardons and commutations of sentences issued during his term.
During Biden's time in the White House, the Executive Branch granted pardons to more than 4,000 convicts who were incarcerated in various parts of the country. Many of these criminals had an extensive criminal record behind them.
Of that alarming figure, the majority of the pardons were issued in the final days of the term, something that Biden's team described as an act of "clemency" and "second chances".
Biden con su médico de cabecera
Biden's pardon of his criminal son
According to the Democratic outlet, the only presidential pardon personally signed by Biden was the one granted to his son, the career criminal Hunter Biden, who was thus exempted from any future criminal action against him.
The rest of the thousands of acts of clemency by the former president were delegated to his advisors and signed with the "autopen", an electronic device used by celebrities, politicians, and public figures to sign autographs, as it artificially reproduces the person's signature.
Alerted by his advisors, the former president sought to correct his statements hours later, claiming that he had granted all pardons and commutations issued during his term orally, blaming President Trump for this campaign caused against him.
Hunter Biden con su padre
Biden pardoned traffickers
Despite this attempt, Biden's brutal act of self-incriminationhas exposed that the former president had no control whatsoever over the pardons and that the task was delegated to his advisors.
The mere fact of this act may give rise to investigations for crimes such as bribery or influence peddling, in addition to once again reflecting the deep cognitivedeterioration in which the former vice president was immersed.
In his final days occupying the Oval Office, Biden commuted the sentences of approximately 2,500 people who were convicted of drug trafficking offenses. The reasons for granting these legal absolutions had to do with the fact that the crime was committed "without violence", according to the previous administration.
Principales asesores demócratas
Trump was right, again
Already in March of this year, the current president had warned his advisors that Bidensigned presidential pardonswith the autopen.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump had stated that the pardons granted by his political rival were declared null and void on the grounds that his predecessor did not sign these legal documents nor had any idea whom he was pardoning.
A House of Representativescommittee is investigating these pardons in order to find out who was truly in charge of the White House.
Last week, the doctor who accompanied Biden throughout his time in the executive branch refused to answer the Senate about the former president's health in recent years, invoking his right granted by the Fifth Amendment.
