Paul signals Jill Biden, Anthony Fauci could be looked at in autopen probe
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Sunday that former first lady Jill Biden and Anthony Fauci could be examined during Congress’s autopen probe.
President Trump has railed against his predecessor, former President Biden, for using the autopen to pardon individuals during his last few months in office.
The president ordered a probe into the signatures on various pardons in June while GOP lawmakers requested interviews with several former White House staffers to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Some have pleaded the Fifth at some point during their testimonies.
“Even though Anthony Fauci has been pardoned, there is some question whether it's a legitimate pardon. His pardon wasn't signed by President Biden,” Paul said during an appearance on John Catsimatidis’s radio show “Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM.
“It's unclear whether President Biden is mentally cognizant enough of the situation to know who he pardoned. Hundreds and hundreds of people were pardoned in a day by a mechanical signature from a machine. We do know there's been testimony from the people running the machine that they never talked to the president, that they talked to an assistant that works for the president's wife,” he added.
Biden has previously argued that past administrations have used the autopen to sign government paperwork, proving its legality. However, Republicans have refused to let go of criticism regarding his signature on multiple pardons.
“Who knew that we weren't being run by Joe Biden, but we were being run by some kind of chief of staff that worked for his wife. That's something to a lot of Americans to know that that person was granting power of pardons and could have taken the country to war and was never elected,” Paul said.
“So I think the way the best way to sort this out is you have to go to court. And I think the easiest way to get this into court is they should indict Anthony Fauci for lying to Congress, and he will make a defense that he's been pardoned,” he added.
Paul also pointed out that the autopen was not used to sign the pardon for Hunter Biden.
"I think there is a question whether these pardons are valid. Interestingly, when he had to do the pardon for his son, he didn't take any chances by running it for the auto pen," Paul.
"The pardon for Hunter Biden for any crimes committed over the last 10 years, any crimes, was done by personal hand signature by Biden, not the auto pen."