Donald Trump—our national disgrace posing as President—is pushing to void any document signed by Joe Biden if he believes it was signed using an autopen. Every one of his allies should be terrified by what this implies.
Trump Moves to Cancel Biden Pardons — His Supporters Should Be Worried
Just over a year ago, Trump convinced the Supreme Court to rule in favor of presidential immunity, granting Presidents immunity from prosecutions for crimes committed in office. Now, Trump wants to undo Biden’s pardons and charge him with perjury if he speaks out. It’s almost as if Trump believes the unfettered power and immunity he fought for applies only to himself.
Barely a week ago, Trump’s own Justice Department—led by Pam Bondi—posted a set of pardons supposedly “signed” by Trump. Forensic experts determined the signatures were not originals but identical digital reproductions. Trump had signed one document, and that signature was copied and pasted across multiple pardons. Instead, of blaming Attorney General Pam Bondi’s incompetence, they blamed a “technical error” and quietly uploaded new files that appear to contain Trump’s real signature.
Then there’s Trump’s bizarre pardon of Changpeng Zhao (founder of crypto exchange Binance). Announced on October 23, it drew scrutiny. When asked on 60 Minutes (airing November 2, 2026) why he pardoned Zhao, Trump replied: “I don’t know who that is.”
We now have a president who says on national television that he doesn’t know who he’s pardoning – while attacking Biden’s pardons and accusing Biden of not knowing who he pardoned.
Will Pardoned J6 Rioters Be Rounded Up Again?
One of Trump’s first acts after returning to the presidency was issuing a blanket pardon to everyone convicted or charged in connection with January 6. Nearly 1,600 pardons and grants of clemency were issued within hours.
There is no scenario in which Trump could have personally signed 1,600 documents that quickly. He almost certainly used an autopen.
Trump’s pardoned supporters should sit up and take notice: Trump’s attempt to invalidate Biden’s autopen-signed pardons could boomerang in a spectacular way: a future president could wipe out Trump’s own mass J6 pardons using the same rationale.
Cause for Concern for Everyone in Trump’s Orbit
Take Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He already faces accusations that the illegal strikes he has ordered on boats suspected of drug smuggling—actions that have killed more than 80 people so far—amount to murder.
He has surely considered the possibility of future criminal charges. He probably assumes Trump will pardon him eventually. But Trump’s attempt to undermine the legitimacy of autopen-signed pardons directly threatens Hegseth’s future safety net. And if not Hegseth himself, what about the soldiers and drone operators who had been tasked to carry out those lethal orders?
Pam Bondi and Kash Patel likely also expect future pardons due to what increasingly appears to be extensive efforts to conceal evidence in the Epstein files. They may look smug now, but Trump’s move to rescind Biden’s pardons should terrify them. It would create a precedent that leaves them exposed to lifelong legal jeopardy.
Bondi, notably, is ignoring her own department’s findings. Those findings explicitly state that autopen signatures are valid:
The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law. Rather, the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.
Department of Justice
MEMORANDUM OPINION FOR THE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
When Exactly Will Congress Snap to Attention?
The Republican-led Senate understands that power swings back and forth. That’s the main reason they have resisted Trump’s relentless push to abolish the filibuster. Once it’s gone, a Democratic majority could reshape the country with simple-majority votes.
I’m not saying the presidential pardon power is sacred or beyond reform. But ending or crippling that power should be a deliberate, bipartisan process—not the impulsive act of a president chasing “vengeance” and “retribution” against real and imagined enemies. Not by a president who is cornered because he’s being forced to release criminal files involving a former associate—files that may implicate him as well—and doing everything in his power to distract the public from them.
For the first time in Trump’s five years of power, Congress showed it can act in the national interest rather than obey orders from the White House. Every Republican except Clay Higgins joined the effort to compel Trump’s Justice Department to release the Epstein files. They pushed back once. They must do it again.
Trump cannot rule by fiat. If Congress and Trump’s Cabinet fail to intervene now, they won’t just be further enabling this authoritarian impulse—they’ll be destroying the only shield that can protect them when Trump’s reign finally ends.
