Comer Promises Accountability As Trump Slams ‘Scandal’ Over Biden Autopen Pardons

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced that his panel is nearing the end of its investigation into President Joe Biden’s reliance on the autopen, after a new report revealed concerns raised inside Biden’s own administration.

“New records reveal President Biden’s own administration raised concerns about autopen use to grant thousands of pardons. This is a historic scandal with massive repercussions,” Comer told Fox News Digital, responding to Axios’ report.

“As President Biden declined, his aides carried out executive actions without his approval, casting doubt on the legitimacy of thousands of pardons and other executive actions.”

Comer continued, “The House Oversight Committee is in the final stages of its investigation. There must be accountability for this scandal.”

President Donald Trump reacted on Truth Social, writing: “THE BIDEN AUTOPEN SCANDAL IS BIG, NOT AS BIG AS THE RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX, OR THE RIGGED 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, BUT, NEVERTHELESS, ONE OF THE BIGGEST, EVER!!!”

A former Biden White House aide countered the criticism. “Republicans like to talk about Biden whenever news hits that they don’t want to talk about. Today, they want to talk about Biden because Trump is responsible for the latest jobs report, which is the worst August jobs gain since 2020,” the staffer told Fox News Digital.

The same staffer added: “What these emails show is a full process to support that decision-making and checks on the use of the autopen.”

Axios reported that top DOJ officials raised alarms about Biden’s clemency process during his final days in office. On January 17, Biden issued nearly 2,500 commutations, setting records both for the most clemency orders ever granted by a U.S. president — more than 4,200 in total — and the largest number issued in a single day.

The following day, DOJ ethics lawyer Bradley Weinsheimer reportedly warned in a memo: “Unfortunately and despite repeated requests and warnings, we were not afforded a reasonable opportunity to vet and provide input on those you were considering.”

Weinsheimer also noted that at least one murderer granted clemency had been flagged by DOJ. “I have no idea if the president was aware of these backgrounds when making clemency decisions,” he wrote, according to details first reported by the New York Post.

Axios further reported that a DOJ pardon attorney objected when White House lawyers asked the department not to seek the views of victims’ families in cases of multiple death row inmates whose sentences Biden commuted.

The report also revealed that White House staff secretary Stef Feldman repeatedly pressed for clarity on the autopen process. In one January 16 email, she asked for details about drug-related clemency orders approved by then-Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. After being told to use the autopen on an executive order, Feldman allegedly asked: “When did we get [Biden’s] approval of this?”

Defending Biden, the former aide insisted: “The pardon power rests with the president — not the Department of Justice. While the DOJ is free to raise its own concerns about pardons, and did before Trump fired all of the career staff who did so, it is ultimately the President’s decision.”

Biden himself recently told The New York Times that he personally made every clemency decision.

Jeff Zients is scheduled to testify before the Oversight Committee later this month, and former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will sit for a closed-door interview on Friday.