(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump claimed that former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons of members of the Jan. 6 Select Committee and others were “void, vacant, and of no future force of effect.”
Trump, in a post to his Truth Social network, went on to say that members of that House committee are “subject to investigation at the highest level” and baselessly accused them of being responsible for their own pardons, without Biden’s knowledge.
Making his claim about the pardons, Trump cited alleged use of an autopen during Biden’s administration.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump claimed in his post on social media.
It is not clear whether Biden used an autopen to sign the documents in question.
Autopen is a machine used to replicate signatures and has long been used by public figures, including presidents, to sign notes and letters. The Autopen Company, which makes the devices, said the machine is “the oldest, most commonly used signing machine” and that it has been used for “more than 60 years.”
ABC News has reached out to Biden’s team and the current White House to learn more about their autopen usage, but has not yet heard back.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the use of autopen.
Former Rep Adam Kinzinger, who served on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, responded to Trump’s claim and challenged Trump to “bring it on.” Kinzinger said the president is obsessed with him and former Rep. Liz Cheney, who also served on the committee.
“He’s more obsessed with me and Liz Cheney than his freaking golf score. Hey, Trump — bring it on, dude, you weak, whiny, tiny man,” Kinzinger said in a video he posted on X Monday.
Trump’s claims come after he issued a sweeping series of pardons for defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The pardons commuted the sentences of 14 individuals and offered a “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim contributed to this story.
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