In a startling confession, former President Joe Biden has admitted that he was unaware of many of the pardons signed by his autopen.
Biden made the confession to the New York Times.
He told the newspaper that he did not approve many of the controversial pardons that he nominally signed at the end of his term.
Biden defended his administration’s frequent use of an autopen as perfectly “legal,” and insisted that he made “every decision.”
However, he also conceded that he delegated the details of the pardon process to his staff because there were too many to sign.
“We’re talking about a whole lot of people,” he said.
Biden’s frequent use of the autopen has fueled doubts about his authority over the White House and the legitimacy of the actions he took as president.
The controversial pardon spree of his final days in power has especially come under the spotlight.
Biden granted clemency to 4,000 inmates, including nearly every federal prisoner on death row.
He also gave pre-emptive pardons to members of his own family.
According to the Times, Biden “did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides