Pardons issued by former President Joe Biden in the final hours of his White House term would not be void due to being signed by autopen but could be invalid if the former president was unaware of the pardons themselves, former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax on Monday.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social shortly after midnight on Monday and declared Biden's pardons "void, vacant, and of no further force or effect" because they were signed by a device.
Critics say Biden's use of the autopen to sign official documents cast doubt over the former president's ability to lead the country.
While appearing in the studio on "Wake Up America," Napolitano was asked about Biden's use of autopen for the pardons.
"As a practical matter, there's no requirement that the president personally sign anything. Just like there was no requirement that Donald Trump personally sign the declassification of documents that he took to his own home. The act of taking them to his home is effectively the declassification," Napolitano told co-hosts Sharla McBride and Marc Lotter. "So if Joe Biden intends to pardon A, B, C and D, and there's 100 people in there, he can say to … Jake Sullivan, 'Sign my name for me.' Absolutely."
"If he did not intend, if he didn't know about it, if somebody did it behind his back, then it's not a valid pardon."
Napolitano added his thoughts on Trump's post, which referenced Biden's preemptive pardons to members of former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi's, D-Calif., partisan Jan. 6 select committee.
"When I read this morning what the president said, after smiling because of the way he communicates in such a forceful way, I thought this is more a political statement than a legal one," Napolitano said.
Napolitano also was asked about anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil, who's being detained in Louisiana under Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Khalil has been accused of participating in the violent anti-Israel protests at Columbia University last spring and distributing terrorist propaganda.
"I think there will be a trial here in New York because the allegations against him thus far suggest no crime, no misbehavior, just the conclusion that his presence here is an impediment to American foreign policy," Napolitano said. "The government's going to have to prove that to a judge."
Lotter pointed out that the law backs up the fact that the secretaries of state and homeland security can revoke green cards if they believe individuals are threats to national security.
"Correct, but he'd have to demonstrate the basis for the threat," Napolitano said.
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