Judge Andrew Napolitano’s blunt reminder on conservative airwaves that the president’s clemency power is nearly untouchable should give every patriotic American pause for thought. The Constitution vests pardon authority squarely in the executive branch, and legal tradition has long treated clemency as a singular presidential prerogative that only extraordinary proof can overcome. This principle protects the republic from petty political retribution, but it also demands that presidents exercise that power with the utmost honor and transparency.
President Trump’s dramatic move to declare autopen-signed Biden documents void has lit a firestorm, and it was no surprise to see him blow the whistle publicly on what he called an unprecedented abuse. Trump announced he would terminate any and all documents purportedly signed by Biden’s autopen, including pardons and commutations, a unilateral act that he framed as defending the rule of law for millions of voters. Conservatives who back accountability welcome scrutiny, but we must also respect the rulebook; the choice to erase another president’s acts raises serious constitutional questions.
Legal experts have been quick to rip holes in the political theater and remind Americans that autopen use does not automatically void a pardon. Fact-checkers and researchers have pointed out that the Federal Register and agency copies often reproduce a signature image, and that the Justice Department’s published pardon copies show variations consistent with genuine signatures rather than a single machine imprint. The real legal fight won’t be about gadgets or chest-thumping on social media — it will be about evidence, chain of custody, and whether the president personally authorized each grant of clemency.
None of this lets corrupt conduct off the hook. Joe Biden’s late-term pardons — including the highly controversial pardon of his son — inflamed millions of Americans who smell a rotten stitch of cronyism and favoritism. Conservatives have every right to demand a full accounting: who drafted these documents, who authorized autopen use, and which aides signed off when the president was too frail or distracted to do so himself. If there was impropriety, it must be exposed and punished; if there wasn’t, the evidence should put the matter to rest once and for all.
Judge Napolitano’s core point — that no outside actor can casually nullify a president’s pardon power — matters because it preserves constitutional order while also raising the stakes for rigorous, lawful oversight. Courts will not simply accept a social-media decree that voids decades of legal precedent; they will demand proof that the president didn’t authorize the act. That is why Republicans must pursue subpoenas, sworn testimony, and forensic records now, not later, so the country can learn the truth under oath rather than through leaks and partisan theater.
Patriotic conservatives should hold two truths simultaneously: defend the sanctity of executive clemency from reckless interference, and fight like hell to expose any corruption, favoritism, or abuse behind its exercise. Judge Napolitano was right to warn that the pardon power is not for political point-scoring, but the American people also deserve the full facts about how those pardons were produced. We will stand for the Constitution and for accountability — because protecting liberty means making sure power is used rightly, not hidden behind machines or midnight signatures.
