White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump was « begging the question » when declaring former President Joe Biden’s apparently auto-penned pardons were « void, vacant, and of no further force of effect » — as the practical effect of the current commander in chief’s pronouncement remains in question.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump was “begging the question” when declaring former President Joe Biden’s apparently auto-penned pardons were “void, vacant, and of no further force of effect” — as the practical effect of the current commander in chief’s pronouncement remains in question.
Leavitt said that Trump — who wrote on Truth Social media early Monday that recipients were henceforth “subject to investigation” — was “raising the point” that the clemency might not be legal.
“The president was raising the point that, ‘Did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?’” Leavitt said at her regular briefing Monday.
“Was he aware of his signature being used on every single pardon? That’s a question you should ask the Biden White House.”
Leavitt deflected when asked if Trump wanted the Justice Department or FBI to take action against the pardon recipients, including members of the since-disbanded House select committee that investigated his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, whom Republicans have accused of illegally destroying evidence assembled during the probe and of “witness tampering.
