Joe Biden admitted to The New York Times that he did not personally sign off on every pardon and commutation issued during his presidency, an acknowledgment that has sparked intense debate over how involved he truly was in carrying out one of the most consequential powers of the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made every decision on the categories and top-level individuals, but the mechanics were left to staff,\u201d Biden told the Times. That sentence alone sent shockwaves through political and legal communities.<\/p>\n
According to the New York Post, Biden\u2019s White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients authorized the use of the autopen to execute a sweeping set of clemency actions on January 19, 2025. This included about 2,500 pardons and 1,500 commutations.<\/p>\n
The New York Post confirmed, \u201cBiden admitted that he didn\u2019t review every clemency case individually and that his chief of staff, Jeff Zients, authorized the use of the autopen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same report added, \u201cThe autopen application, which Biden also used to sign some legislation, allowed staff to speed up paperwork processing.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Biden insisted, as quoted in ABC News, that he personally made \u201cevery decision,\u201d he conceded that he did not individually sign off on each document, saying, \u201cI approved each of the clemency decisions before they were issued.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Daily Beast quoted Biden dismissing Republican criticism: \u201cThat is utter BS,\u201d he said, responding to allegations that he had no hand in the clemency spree.<\/p>\n
Still, Biden\u2019s comments confirmed the worst fears of critics who have questioned his cognitive fitness and decision-making capacity. As Time reported, the final flurry of clemency actions was conducted with Biden out of public view.<\/p>\n
Time added context, noting, \u201cEmails show Biden\u2019s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, approved the use of the autopen to execute clemency documents on the president\u2019s behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the same article, the legal implications were underscored: \u201cWhile it is legally permissible, it is extremely rare for a president to use an autopen to sign something as consequential as a clemency order.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Boston judge accused of assisting an unauthorized immigrant in evading US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2018 is scheduled to face a misconduct hearing.<\/p>\n
Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph is facing a civil misconduct allegation in connection with the incident in which she reportedly aided Jose Medina-Perez, a Dominican national who had already been deported twice, in exiting Newton District Court undetected.<\/p>\n
Medina-Perez, who is forbidden from reentering the United States until 2027, appeared in court on drug possession charges and a fugitive warrant from Pennsylvania. Fox News said that an ICE agent was waiting outside the courthouse to take him into custody.<\/p>\n
Joseph is scheduled to appear Monday in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, where the misconduct hearing is now underway. Presiding Judge Denis McInerney noted that he will produce a report explaining his findings and recommendations after the hearings are completed.<\/p>\n
At the start of the session, Joseph\u2019s counsel emphasized that her client had not been proven guilty of any crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you were to walk down the street and take a survey of the people you meet, 100% of them would tell you Judge Joseph let an illegal immigrant out the back door of the district court,\u201d the attorney representing her stated in her opening remarks. \u201cFifty percent of them would say she\u2019s a criminal and should go to jail. Fifty percent would call her a folk hero for what she gave. But she definitely did it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has become such a part of local lore in Boston that the media, for the most part, have dropped the niceties of alleged or charged, and they report and make references to this incident as if a dozen people had seen Judge Joseph get off the bench, escorted the defendant to the door, gave him a hug and wished him Godspeed,\u201d the attorney for her said.<\/p>\n
David Jellinek, Medina-Perez\u2019s attorney, has also testified on cross-examination. According to Fox, he signed an immunity agreement with federal officials in exchange for testifying against Joseph.<\/p>\n
Federal prosecutors claimed that Joseph instructed a court clerk to notify the ICE agent present to wait in the lobby, suggesting that if the defendant was freed, he would depart<\/p>\n
via the courtroom entrance into the lobby. Later, Joseph reportedly told the courtroom clerk to \u201cgo off the record for a moment,\u201d which caused the courtroom audio recording to turn off for 52 seconds.<\/p>\n
When the audio record was turned back on, Joseph announced that she would free the defendant. Federal prosecutors said in court documents that Medina-Perez\u2019s defense counsel requested to meet with the defendant downstairs, to which Joseph replied, \u201cThat\u2019s great. \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the clerk told the judge that an ICE officer was at the courthouse awaiting the defendant\u2019s release, Joseph allegedly replied, \u201cThat\u2019s OK. I will not allow them to enter here. But he\u2019s been freed on this,\u201d according to court records.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors also said that MacGregor led the defendant, his attorney, and an interpreter downstairs to the courthouse prison. He then used his security access card to unlock the rear sally-port door, allowing the defendant to escape unnoticed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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