White House Counsel raises red flags on legality of Biden pardons, urges DOJ and Congress to probe

The Trump White House Counsel is raising serious questions about the legality of Joe Biden's final wave of pardons and commutations, urging the Justice Department and Congress to interview the former president's advisors to determine if he truly authorized acts of clemency signed by an autopen operated by staff, according to a memo obtained Saturday by Just the News.

"We believe that answering the questions above requires interviewing those involved," White House Counsel David Warrington wrote in a memo to President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. "As the WHC does not have the authority to conduct interviews, we recommend that you approve making the information contained in this memorandum and the supporting materials available to entities that do have that power.

"By sharing this information with the Department of Justice and the United States Congress, we will be able to assist their investigations and provide much needed transparency to the American people," the memo added.

Just the News recently reported on bombshell internal White House memos that showed Biden had outsourced clemency decisions to then-Vice President Kamala Harris and allowed staff to use an autopen on late-term pardons even though staff believed at the beginning of his presidency that he needed to personally sign by hand such actions.

The Warrington memo also called into question Biden's claim to The New York Times this summer that the use of autopen was necessary due to the large number of individuals who received a pardon or clemency at the end of his presidency.  

"This argument would make sense if, for example, President Biden was signing commutations or pardons for each individual receiving clemency. In reality, the materials drafted by Biden White House staffers contained lengthy lists of names and required only a few presidential autopens. The December 2024 commutation of nearly 1,500 individuals serving home confinement required only one signature," the memo stated.

"The January 2025 commutation of nearly 2,500 individuals for crack-powder sentencing disparities required only three signatures. WHC does not raise this solely because of President Biden’s obvious falsehood. Whether done for simplicity or due to President Biden’s diminished faculties, the practice of structuring pardons or commutations so that the fewest number of signatures would be needed created several problems," the WHC wrote in the memo.  

According to the memo, the White House Counsel found that Biden's staff secretary was "unsure if the president had actually approved specific individuals for clemency" and that staffers could "add or subtract clemency recipients after President Biden’s alleged approval."

The memo said that "broad language meant violent criminals would be released" and broad language "would cause confusion for officials at DOJ responsible for processing pardons or clemency."

In the memo, the WHC said it found out that a Biden staffer said the president did not read the "warrants for pardons or commutations." 

According to the memo, some of the questions the office wants Biden officials to answer include:

• "If President Biden made every clemency decision, then why do his briefing books from December 2024 and January 2025 contain nothing of substance on the pardons or commutations he allegedly approved?"
• "If the President approved a pardon or commutation, why did staff often wait days before communicating the decision to anyone?"
• "Were staffers to Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Bruce Reed sending emails on their behalf regarding pardons or other issues without informing recipients?"
• "If President Biden was mentally fit to serve as President, why did he need cheat sheets explaining that he had approved commutations for 1,500 people or a pardon for his own son?"
• "If a memo authorizing widespread autopen usage was written before President Biden was inaugurated, was staff already questioning his fitness to serve?"