Columbia News

Senator Eric Schmitt has used social media to raise concerns regarding President Joe Biden's recent use of executive clemency and the role of White House staff in the process. The series of posts alleges irregularities involving the approval and execution of presidential pardons.

On July 14, 2025, Senator Schmitt stated that "Joe Biden claims he personally approved every pardon. But, after his signoff, his staff quietly added violent criminals to the list and ran them through the autopen without telling him. The autopen scandal just got blown wide open—again."

In a subsequent post on the same day, Schmitt further commented: "Biden's pardon abuses were awful. These megalomaniacal staffers made them even worse by expanding the list of murderers and rapists with executive clemency."

Schmitt then provided additional details in a follow-up tweet: "Here's what happened: Biden didn't individually approve pardons. Rather, he signed off on criteria to be used in finding violent inmates he wanted to pardon or offer clemency. Biden's staff then changed the final list and ran it through the autopen."

The controversy centers around allegations that President Biden's staff modified the final list of individuals granted clemency after receiving general approval from the president and processed these changes using an autopen—a device that replicates a signature—without informing him directly.

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