Biden ignored DOJ warnings over legally flawed autopen pardons
The article discusses internal Department of justice (DOJ) concerns over President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to grant sweeping clemency orders to nearly 2,500 federal inmates in his final days in office. Senior DOJ officials, including then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer, expressed confusion and alarm over the vague language of the pardon warrants, which made it arduous to determine exactly which offenses were covered. Weinsheimer warned that the White House’s public claims that the pardons applied only to “non-violent drug offenders” were misleading, as some recipients were violent criminals, including murderers and gang leaders.
Despite these warnings, the White house praised the mass clemencies as historic relief for non-violent offenders. Biden defended his use of the autopen, stating he made all clemency decisions personally and used the device as a practical tool for processing a large volume of cases. Though, DOJ emails reveal uncertainty among officials about the scope and intent of the pardons and a rebuke of the White House’s portrayal of them.
The article also highlights Weinsheimer’s prior controversial involvement in DOJ matters and his eventual departure from the department amid political disputes. The investigation and scrutiny of the clemency process continue, with oversight groups seeking more internal communications related to the autopen pardons.
Biden ignored DOJ warnings over legally flawed autopen pardons
Senior Justice Department officials were left scrambling to interpret sweeping clemency orders former President Joe Biden approved for thousands of federal convicts in his final days in office, and they chastised the White House for falsely portraying the releases as limited to “nonviolent” offenders, according to internal emails.
The records, obtained by the Oversight Project and reviewed by the Washington Examiner, reveal that former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer, the department’s top career official at the time, raised alarms immediately after Biden issued three autopen-signed warrants on Jan. 17, covering nearly 2,500 inmates.
Biden DOJ confused by warrant language
In a Jan. 18 message to White House counsel and the DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, Weinsheimer wrote that one warrant granting clemency for “offenses described to the Department of Justice” was so vague it could not be lawfully carried out.
“I think the language … is highly problematic,” Weinsheimer said, adding that to interpret the document properly, “we will need a statement or direction from the President.”
He suggested Biden provide “a list as to each inmate listing the offenses that are covered by the commutation,” which he described as the “clearest and least problematic alternative.”
Weinsheimer said Biden needed to clarify the “meaning of the warrant language” so the DOJ could implement it “in the manner intended by the President.”
Weinsheimer also warned that the ambiguous order could unintentionally wipe away convictions for violent felons.
Rebuke of White House claims
Weinsheimer pushed back against White House messaging that the clemency recipients were only “non-violent drug offenders,” the emails show.
“I think you should stop saying that because it is untrue or at least misleading,” he wrote, noting that his office had already flagged 19 “highly problematic” commutations. At least 16 of those inmates ultimately received clemency, including murderers, gang leaders, and drug traffickers tied to brutal acts of violence.
Among them were Russell McIntosh, who killed a woman and her 2-year-old child to protect his drug business; Steven Fowler, whose enforcer tortured an informant with a butane torch; and Plaze Anderson, a Gangster Disciples member implicated in multiple murders and kidnappings, according to a commutations receipts page from the DOJ.
Despite these warnings, the White House released a statement in Biden’s name touting the mass commutations as relief for “non-violent drug offenses” and lauding it as the largest clemency action in U.S. history.
Broader backdrop
In a July interview with the New York Times, Biden insisted he personally made all clemency decisions, calling Republican claims that aides misused the autopen “ridiculous and false.”
Amid scrutiny of his aides’ use of an automated signature device to place his name on the pardon documents, Biden said he approved broad categories of inmates and left staff to apply those standards, defending using an autopen as a practical tool to process the sheer volume of cases.
However, the DOJ emails illustrate that inside the administration, officials were uncertain what Biden actually ordered and openly challenged the accuracy of the White House’s public explanation.
Weinsheimer previously accused of loyalty to Biden administration
Weinsheimer’s warnings are notable given his long reputation as a “nonpolitical” DOJ official. A career ethics lawyer, he was previously accused by Republicans of playing a behind-the-scenes role in shaping what critics derided as Hunter Biden’s “sweetheart plea deal” while his father was president.
According to multiple reports, Weinsheimer met directly with the first son’s defense counsel in 2023, a move that raised questions about whether the DOJ’s leadership was undermining former U.S. Attorney David Weiss’s purported independence in the case.
His career at the DOJ ended with a partisan dispute.
In February, shortly after President Donald Trump returned to office, the administration reassigned him to a new sanctuary cities task force. Rather than accept the politically charged assignment, Weinsheimer accepted a federal employee buyout, part of a broader wave of career officials who resisted what they viewed as attempts to politicize the DOJ’s work.
DROPOUT: JOE BIDEN’S MIXED ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND HIS LEGACY AGAINST AUTOPEN INVESTIGATIONS
Efforts to recover additional records relating to the Oversight Project’s pursuit of internal DOJ emails to the White House are ongoing, a spokesperson for the watchdog group said. The email exchange revealed on Tuesday was released by the office of Ed Martin, Trump’s appointee serving as the U.S. pardon attorney and head of the DOJ anti-weaponization group.
The Washington Examiner contacted a representative for Biden’s office.
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