Former US President Joe Biden faces uncertainty after his successor Donald Trump has declared that Biden’s last-minute presidential pardons, including one to his son Hunter Biden, are “null and void”.

President Trump said that Joe Biden may not even have been aware of what all was being signed in his name as an autopen was used to sign these documents. President Trump made this announcement on his social media platform Truth Social late on Sunday night.

An autopen is a robotic instrument that is used by government officials, including the US President, to sign documents on behalf of the said authority, keeping in mind the sheer volumes of correspondence they have to sign. Such signatures are usually communicated to the person in-charge as they need not necessarily be aware of such signatures.

US Presidents have used the autopen for decades.

“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. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them, but more importantly, he did not know anything about them,” President Trump stated. He however, did not give any proof of this claim.

Mr Trump went on to say that all such people who were falsely “pardoned” by Biden just before he demitted office will now face investigation. “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. Therefore, 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.”

Concluding his post, President Trump wrote, “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!”

The presidential pardon is an absolute power that all US Presidents have. Even the courts, including the Supreme Court cannot intervene in such a matter. In the past courts have been opposed to putting any limits or restrictions on how these pardons are granted.

Should Donald Trump convert his statement into a presidential order, it would mean that the investigation agencies will probe those who were “pardoned” and the US Justice Department may potentially go after and prosecute some of Donald Trump’s arch rivals and political adversaries.

Donald Trump however, told reporters on board the Air Force One late on Sunday night that ultimately the courts should decide on the validity of the pardons. “It’s not my decision. That will ultimately be up to a court. But I would say that they (Biden’s last-minute pardons) are null and void, because I’m sure Biden didn’t have any idea that it was taking place, and somebody was using an autopen to sign off and to give these pardons,” President Trump said, alleging that these were forged documents.

In a significant ruling in 2024, a US federal appeals court had noted that a presidential pardon doesn’t necessarily have to be in writing. “The plain language of the US Constitution imposes no such limit,” the court had said.