Is President Joe Biden truly signing off on pardons, or is a machine doing the heavy lifting? Senator Josh Hawley, a firebrand conservative from Missouri, is raising alarms about the use of an autopen—a device that automatically signs documents with a mere button push—for critical acts of clemency and stays.
Breitbart reported that during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Hawley demanded that Biden release all records tied to the autopen’s use for pardons, warning that a congressional subpoena could follow if the administration stonewalls.
Let’s break this down. An autopen, as Hawley described it, isn’t a personal signature but a mechanical one, activated remotely. If Biden isn’t directly authorizing each use, who is?
Hawley didn’t mince words at the hearing, pressing for transparency. “Let’s find out, did he actually authorize it?” he asked, cutting to the heart of whether Biden personally greenlit these signatures.
His concern isn’t baseless. The Office of Legal Counsel has clear guidelines: an autopen can only be used under the President’s explicit direction and authority. Anything less smells like a shortcut around accountability.
Hawley even quizzed Theodore Wold, a former deputy assistant to the President, on the legalities. Wold agreed with Hawley’s take on the rules, confirming that proper protocol demands a paper trail. Yet, no such documents have surfaced—curious, isn’t it?
Wold noted that if the White House followed standard procedure, there should be memos or briefing materials showing Biden’s approval for the autopen’s use.
Without these records, doubts fester about whether the process was above board. It’s not a conspiracy theory; it’s a call for basic evidence.
Hawley isn’t buying the silence. “Release the documents. You know you have them,” he urged Biden’s team, challenging them to prove the legality of every pardon and stay issued this way.
Here’s the rub: if everything was done by the book, why the hesitation? Transparency would shut down skepticism faster than a progressive policy flops at a Missouri town hall. But the stonewalling only fuels suspicion.
Hawley’s frustration peaked with a pointed jab. “If you will not do it, we should subpoena those documents,” he declared, hinting at deeper concerns about who’s truly steering the ship in the White House.
He didn’t stop there. Hawley openly questioned whether Biden himself was calling the shots, suggesting the hidden records might reveal a different story. It’s a bold claim, but one that resonates with many who worry about unaccountable power.
Think about it: if a machine signs off on something as weighty as a pardon without direct presidential oversight, what’s next? The Constitution isn’t a suggestion; it’s the bedrock of governance. This isn’t about partisan games—it’s about principle.
The Senator’s final plea was simple but powerful: “Let’s see all of it.” He’s not asking for a witch hunt, just the documentation to confirm that the rule of law was upheld. That’s a reasonable request in any administration, regardless of party.