Trump says Biden's pardons are void

Are they?

Last weekend, Trump posted on his Truth Social that former President Joe Biden’s pardons granted to Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House Committee that investigated the January 6th riot at the Capitol, including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) are “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT.”

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Biden had preemptively issued these pardons to protect the individuals from Trump’s promise to go after perceived political enemies with the Department of Justice's prosecutorial power. If Trump’s first months in office and this post are any indication of his plans, Biden was right to be worried.

As I wrote in my latest article for The Hill, if Attorney General Pam Bondi goes forward with an indictment against any of these individuals, harm will flow even if the “revocations” are legally bogus (which I believe they are.)

Will these individuals be prosecuted?

That’s the key question. If the answer is no, Trump’s post is just bluster.

But if Attorney General Pam Bondi secures an indictment of a pardoned individual, the Constitution will be in play. The defense will fire back with a motion to dismiss on the grounds that Biden pardoned the defendant so the prosecution is illegal.

Trump claimed that the pardons are invalid because they were allegedly “done by autopen.” “In other words,” Trump went on, “Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”

There has been zero evidence to support the claim that the pardons were signed without anyone knowing and by autopen. And, under the Supreme Court decision in Trump v. U.S., it’s unlikely that the Department of Justice could even look for evidence.