President Joe Biden’s staffers were also puzzled by the pardon process, which has been exposed as pure chaos. A shoddy chain of command was established among top aides, who were uncertain whether their actions had been vetted and how to proceed with enacting the former president’s wishes. Now, we have reports that the Justice Department might not have vetted a significant number of clemency petitions from the Biden White House (via Axios):
High-ranking Biden administration officials repeatedly questioned and criticized how the president's team decided on controversial pardons and allowed the frequent use of an autopen to sign measures late in his term, internal emails obtained by Axios show.
Why it matters: The messages are the latest signs of the chaos surrounding the 82-year-old former president during the final weeks of his administration, in two areas that are now being investigated by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, Axios' Alex Thompson reports.
President Trump has cited Biden's process in issuing pardons to try to justify many of his own controversial pardons or commutations on behalf of donor-connected supporters and others who were imprisoned for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
How it happened: After the political backlash to President Biden pardoning his son Hunter last Dec. 1, the White House began pushing to find more people to grant clemency to, according to people familiar with the internal dynamics.
"There was a mad dash to find groups of people that he could then pardon — and then they largely didn't run it by the Justice Department to vet them," a person familiar with the process told Axios.
Biden granted clemency to more people than any president in U.S. history — 4,245 people. More than 95% of those actions occurred in the final 3½ months of his presidency, according to Pew Research.
Democrats and the media don’t think this is a big deal, but wondering if a president was cogent or not isn’t a small thing. Biden lied about his health, denied wanting to pardon his son, misrepresented the economy, and misrepresented inflation. Every aspect of this failed presidency must be re-examined, because it sounds like no one knew what the hell was going on for four years.
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