US President Donald Trump's clemency drive has taken another hit as the Justice Department replaced pardons posted online with similar signatures by Trump with new versions featuring distinctly different sign-offs, amid growing scrutiny over the authenticity of his presidential signatures.
A recent batch of pardons granted by Trump to seven individuals, including former New York Mets player Darryl Strawberry and former Tennessee House speaker Glen Casada, raised eyebrows after it emerged that some of the original pardons posted online featured identical copies of Trump's signature. The Justice Department initially attributed the mistake to "technical" errors and staffing issues stemming from the Democrat-led government shutdown.
However, handwriting experts have pointed out the glaring inconsistency, saying no two signatures share identical design features in every aspect. Thomas Vastrick, a Florida-based expert who heads the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, described the issue as straightforward, stating that Trump's use of an autopen to sign pardons is not a legitimate reason for questioning their authenticity.
The controversy over Trump's presidential signatures comes amid a flurry of clemency orders issued by his administration. Critics have seized on these issues to undermine what they see as Biden's questionable practice of using the autopen to sign executive actions, claiming it raises questions about his mental faculties and authority.
While some have defended Trump's use of an autopen as legitimate, others argue that he is simply trying to avoid comparison with Biden. Frank Bowman, a legal historian and professor emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law, said any re-signing of pardons was "an obvious effort to avoid comparison" and "silly".
The issue has sparked renewed tensions between Trump's administration and Democrats in Congress, who have repeatedly criticized Biden's use of the autopen. The White House has insisted that Trump signed all pardons personally, but officials have struggled to explain why similar signatures appear on some online versions.
In a broader context, the ongoing controversy highlights deep divisions over how presidential authority should be exercised. As one Democrat pointed out, it is unclear who ultimately controls the White House and makes executive decisions – or whether there has been any concerted effort to undermine Biden's legitimacy in office.
A recent batch of pardons granted by Trump to seven individuals, including former New York Mets player Darryl Strawberry and former Tennessee House speaker Glen Casada, raised eyebrows after it emerged that some of the original pardons posted online featured identical copies of Trump's signature. The Justice Department initially attributed the mistake to "technical" errors and staffing issues stemming from the Democrat-led government shutdown.
However, handwriting experts have pointed out the glaring inconsistency, saying no two signatures share identical design features in every aspect. Thomas Vastrick, a Florida-based expert who heads the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, described the issue as straightforward, stating that Trump's use of an autopen to sign pardons is not a legitimate reason for questioning their authenticity.
The controversy over Trump's presidential signatures comes amid a flurry of clemency orders issued by his administration. Critics have seized on these issues to undermine what they see as Biden's questionable practice of using the autopen to sign executive actions, claiming it raises questions about his mental faculties and authority.
While some have defended Trump's use of an autopen as legitimate, others argue that he is simply trying to avoid comparison with Biden. Frank Bowman, a legal historian and professor emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law, said any re-signing of pardons was "an obvious effort to avoid comparison" and "silly".
The issue has sparked renewed tensions between Trump's administration and Democrats in Congress, who have repeatedly criticized Biden's use of the autopen. The White House has insisted that Trump signed all pardons personally, but officials have struggled to explain why similar signatures appear on some online versions.
In a broader context, the ongoing controversy highlights deep divisions over how presidential authority should be exercised. As one Democrat pointed out, it is unclear who ultimately controls the White House and makes executive decisions – or whether there has been any concerted effort to undermine Biden's legitimacy in office.
& now they're changing it like a teenager's instagram bio? who cares about the autopen thing, it's just a bunch of drama 
anyway, i feel bad for darryl strawberry he got a pardon lol guess he won't have to answer for all those homers he gave up in 1987 
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think this whole thing is super telling about our society's obsession with authenticity and control... like, we're so caught up on verifying every little detail that we're missing the bigger picture. Trump's using an autopen to sign pardons, but it's not just about him – it's about how we perceive power and authority. And honestly, I think this whole thing is being blown way out of proportion 
like, what's goin on with trump's signatures? can't they just keep it real for once? 
i mean if they're gonna use an autopen then just own it and stop pretendin' like he signed everything personally. and btw why are ppl comparin this to biden? like come on guys let's focus on the issue at hand. this is all just a big headache 
. I don't buy it that he signed all those himself, but at the same time, who am I to question his authority? 
And let's not forget, this is about clemency drives and presidential power, not about Trump's ego or mental faculties 
. Can we please just focus on the facts instead of getting caught up in the drama? 
It's all so... political 
. Anyway, I'm curious to know what other people think – do you guys think Trump is trying to hide something? 
just saying 
His administration does seem to be re-signing pardons now that they've been caught out on the authenticity issue 
It's like, if you're going to do it once, just own up to it and be transparent about it 
. It's like, come on Trump, use a real pen if you're gonna sign something important, ya feel? And now they're redinking all these pardons with different signatures, I guess to avoid comparison with Biden... it's all just too extra 
. Like, does Trump think he can just outsmart everyone by using an autopen? No thanks 
. It's time to get real and stop playing games with the people's business 
Not sure what's going on here but I'm kinda entertained 
It's not exactly rocket science, right? And all these conspiracy theories about Biden using an autopen to sign executive actions... please, let's focus on the facts for once! 
...
We've got politicians who are more concerned with undermining each other than actually getting things done. And the public gets caught in the middle of all this drama... 
It's like, can't we just have a functioning government for once?