On Monday, former U.S. President Donald Trump challenged the legality of Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons for members of the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, unrest.
Trump argued that Biden had no knowledge of the pardons and never personally signed the documents.
“The so-called ‘pardons’ issued by Biden to the committee members and many others are hereby declared void, null, and without legal effect because they were executed using an Autopen,” Trump stated on Truth Social.
Trump asserted that Biden “knew nothing about them, and those involved may have committed a crime.”
He also vowed to launch a high-level investigation into the individuals “likely responsible for the documents that were signed on their behalf without Biden’s knowledge or consent.”
On January 6, 2021, pro-Trump demonstrators stormed the Capitol complex, temporarily delaying the certification of the 2020 presidential election results in Biden’s favor.
Hundreds of individuals were charged with riot-related offenses. After his reelection, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 defendants.
On his final day in office, January 20, Biden issued preemptive pardons for members of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Biden anticipated that the committee members and other officials might face retaliation after he left the White House.
