Biden W.H. Lawyers, DoJ Were Befuddled by Autopen Clemencies, Emails Show: ‘He Doesn’t Review the Warrants’

TRANSCRIPT:

RIVERA: "As the New York Post reports, White House lawyers and the Justice Department we’re unsure about how to enact the president’s clemency grants in his final days in office. On January 17th, Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted on nonviolent drug charges. The Post reports the debate over who to include in the pardons and how to modify their sentences came to a head on the evening of January 16th. Internal emails obtained by the New York Post show White House staff secretary Stef Feldman sent an email to West Wing lawyer saying she needs evidence Biden consented before authorizing a mechanical signature. One of the people who received the email, Deputy White House Counsel Tyeesha Dixon, reportedly sent the message to the chief of staff to the White House Counsel’s Office, Michael Posada, saying, 'Michael, thoughts on how to handle this? He does not review the warrants.' Biden told The New York Times earlier this year that he verbally approved every clemency decision, even if he did not personally sign the warrants, because he says there where a lot of them."