Donald Trump appears to have undone Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons declaring them “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect.”
Trump announced early Monday that he is voiding all of Biden’s last-minute pardons, arguing that they were signed using an autopen and that Biden was unaware of what he was even approving.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump issued a bold statement that sent shockwaves through Washington.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” he wrote.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”
The 47th president further claimed that the pardons were never properly approved, suggesting that Biden’s mental state at the age of 82 made him incapable of understanding what he was signing.
“The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime.”
Among those pardoned in Biden’s final hours as president were all nine members of the House Jan. 6 Select Committee, including Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who later endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2025 election.
Trump made it crystal clear that these pardons will not protect them, vowing that they will be “subject to investigation at the highest level.”
“Those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two-year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level.”
The former January 6th committee members were granted preemptive pardons, which shield them from potential prosecution over their role in the House investigation into the Capitol riot – an inquiry that Trump has repeatedly called a politically motivated attack.
Trump didn’t hold back, accusing them of being responsible for Biden’s autopen-signed pardons and declaring: “The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!”
Beyond the Jan. 6 committee, Biden’s last-minute pardons also extended to some other figures.
General Mark Milley, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who once called Trump a “wannabe dictator.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s former chief medical advisor, who has been accused by Trump and his allies of lying to Congress about Covid-19 origins and U.S. funding for gain-of-function research.
Biden’s preemptive pardon of Milley was seen as highly political, given that the former top military officer had testified against Trump regarding the Jan. 6 riot and accused him of seeking to weaponize the U.S. military against civilians.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fauci, who retired in 2022, remains a key figure of controversy due to his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fauci has denied that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) funneled money toward risky virus research in Wuhan, China, but federal watchdogs later found evidence that U.S. funds did support gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Per the New York Post, Trump blasted the pardons, calling them “disgraceful” and stating: “Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
