Joe Biden’s only hand-signed pardon during his final months in office was also his most controversial – his son, Hunter.

The bombshell comes as Donald Trump ordered a sweeping investigation into Biden’s use of an autopen to sign a huge number of presidential documents.

Trump claims that heavy use of a device that imitates a person’s signature masked Biden’s ‘serious cognitive decline’ and created a ‘dangerous and unprecedented conspiracy.’

During his time in the White House, Biden, who was dealing with an aggressive type of prostate cancer and growing concerns about his mental acuity, granted clemency to over 1,500 individuals in the last weeks of his presidency.

Biden’s administration highlighted this as the largest single-day clemency act in US history. However, documents examined by the Department of Justice and White House officials reveal that nearly all these pardons were signed with the autopen.

The one glaring exception was Biden’s controversial hand-signed pardon of his son Hunter, shielding him from prosecution for any federal crimes committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024.

For months, Biden had assured Americans he would not interfere in his son’s legal woes but in December 2024, after Hunter pleaded guilty to felony gun charges and faced additional federal tax violations, Biden suddenly reversed course.

‘From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ Biden said in an emotional address. 

Former President Joe Biden ‘s only hand-signed pardon during his final months in office was also his most controversial – the blanket pardon of his son, Hunter Biden 

Biden’s controversial hand-signed pardon of Hunter Biden, shields his son from prosecution for any federal crimes committed between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2024 

Trump has seized on the controversy, ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington to investigate Biden’s use of the autopen

‘There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five-and-a-half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough. 

‘I hope Americans will understand why a father – and a president- would come to this decision.’

Aside from three felony gun offenses, the first son was also charged with federal tax crimes over his alleged failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. 

Special Counsel David Weiss, who led the probe into Hunter, blasted Biden’s pardon as an affront to justice. 

In a report, Weiss excoriated Biden’s public statement dismissing the yearslong investigation as ‘selective’ and ‘infected by raw politics.’

‘This statement is gratuitous and wrong,’ Weiss wrote. ‘Other presidents have pardoned family members, but none have used the occasion to malign public servants based solely on false accusations.’

The pardon effectively ended Weiss’s investigation, barring any further charges against Hunter Biden.

Biden also issued pardons for his two brothers and his sister shortly before leaving office, hoping to shield them from potential prosecution under Trump, who had promised retribution during last year’s campaign. 

For months, Biden had assured the American public he would not interfere in his son’s legal woes but in December 2024, after Hunter pleaded guilty to felony gun charges and faced additional federal tax violations, Biden suddenly reversed course

Autopens have been used for decades by presidents of both parties. Pictured, the older model Autopen Model 80

Other pardon recipients included members of a congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. 

Now back in the White House, Trump has seized on the controversy, ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington to investigate Biden’s use of the autopen. 

In a scathing memorandum, Trump stated: ‘It has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority. 

‘This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history. The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.’ 

Trump’s directive calls for a forensic review of every document signed during Biden’s presidency.

It includes everything from pardons, executive orders, judicial appointments and proclamations to determine which bore Biden’s authentic signature and which were replicated by autopen.

The autopen, though little-known to the public, has long been used by US presidents to manage the deluge of documents requiring a signature. 

The device can accurately replicate a signature, saving presidents precious time.

The Justice Department, under Democratic and Republican administrations, has recognized the use of an autopen by presidents to sign legislation and issue pardons for decades – and even Trump himself acknowledges using it.

The Trump White House noted that how Biden administration issued 1,200 Presidential documents, appointed 235 judges to the Federal bench, and issued more pardons and commutations than any administration in United States history

‘Autopens to me are used when thousands of letters come in from young people all over the country and you want to get them back,’ Trump said on Thursday.

‘Biden’s cognitive issues and apparent mental decline during his presidency were even ‘worse’ in private, and those closest to him ‘tried to hide it’ from the public,’ Trump said in his statement. 

‘To do so, Biden’s advisors during his years in office severely restricted his news conferences and media appearances, and they scripted his conversations with lawmakers, government officials, and donors, all to cover up his inability to discharge his duties.’ 

Past presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, have employed the autopen in limited circumstances, such as signing routine letters or lower-level appointments.

However, critics argue that Biden’s reliance on the device was unprecedented.

An exhaustive review by the Oversight Project found that nearly every document from Biden’s presidency from 2021 to 2025 bore identical autopen signatures, except for the document announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.

Biden’s reliance on the autopen came as his public appearances diminished, with aides scripting his engagements, heavily curating his interactions with lawmakers, and significantly limiting press conferences. 

Behind the scenes, insiders claim Biden’s inner circle – including family members – wielded disproportionate influence, raising fresh questions about who was truly making presidential decisions. 

White House counsel David Warrington (left) and Attorney General Pam Bondi (right) will lead the probe to investigate Biden’s use of the autopen

Trump, while acknowledging he occasionally used the autopen himself, argues Biden’s alleged overuse could nullify significant executive actions.

‘Essentially, whoever used the autopen was the president,’ Trump said during a press conference. ‘That’s wrong. It’s illegal. It’s so bad and it’s so disrespectful to our country.’

House Oversight Chairman James Comer has launched parallel inquiries, demanding testimony from Biden’s former top aides including Mike Donilon, Anita Dunn, Ron Klain, Bruce Reed, and Steve Ricchetti, alleging they participated in a ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s cognitive decline.

Comer cited explosive allegations from CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson’s book ‘Original Sin,’ which claimed ‘five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.’

The committee has also issued subpoenas for Biden’s physician Kevin O’Connor and several White House aides who reportedly helped shield Biden’s true condition from public view. 

Republicans argue that if Biden’s aides, not Biden himself, made key decisions, it could throw into question the validity of major executive actions including the pardons of his siblings, other family members, and members of the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.

Biden has lashed back at the accusations.

Biden on December 1 pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges

An autopen is a device used to automatically affix a signature to a document. Trump and his supporters have made a variety of claims that Biden’s use of the device while president invalidated his actions or suggested that he was not fully aware of these actions 

‘Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,’ Biden said in a statement.

Biden’s reliance on the autopen came as his public appearances diminished, with aides scripting his engagements, heavily curating his interactions with lawmakers, and significantly limiting press conferences.

Behind the scenes, insiders claim Biden’s inner circle – including family members – wielded disproportionate influence, raising fresh questions about who was truly making presidential decisions.

He accused Trump and Congressional Republicans of creating a ‘distraction’ to divert attention from ongoing political battles, including a contentious tax bill moving through Congress.

‘This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans,’ Biden declared. 

‘They are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families.’

In private, Biden’s aides insist that autopen use was limited to routine matters, and that Biden personally reviewed major decisions. 

However, newly surfaced internal memos suggest that a handful of senior advisors controlled access to the president and directed autopen usage without always consulting him, raising further doubts about the authenticity of some presidential actions. 

The implications are enormous – if Trump’s investigation finds that Biden’s use of the autopen was improper, it could challenge the legitimacy of thousands of presidential decisions, from judicial appointments to sweeping regulatory changes.

House Republicans are already signaling they may attempt to invalidate actions signed via autopen, raising constitutional questions that could land before the Supreme Court.

‘The American people deserve to know who was really running the country,’ Trump said. ‘This scandal could be one of the greatest in American history.’