Alan Dershowitz Explains Why ‘We Will Never Know’ If Autopen Pardons Are Invalid

Attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday that the American people may never know whether pardons issued by former President Joe Biden are invalid due to the use of an autopen to sign them.

President Donald Trump declared in a post on Truth Social early Monday morning that pardons issued by Biden to members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol were invalid due to the use of an autopen, a mechanical device that can replicate a stored signature. Dershowitz told viewers of “The Dershow” that if an autopen was used to sign a bill into law, the law would likely be invalid, due to language in the Constitution requiring the president to sign the bill into law.

“I haven’t heard anybody mention this point, but it’s in the Constitution, so I am going to mention it. There’s a difference among documents that are signed or have to be signed by the president. Let’s say, for example, a bill. We remember all from civics one, yeah, a bill becomes law,” Dershowitz said. “When does a bill become law? When the president signs it or the president doesn’t sign it and vetoes it, when the veto is overcome by the votes, this, that, the other.”

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“OK, what does the Constitution say?” Dershowitz asked. “The Constitution is very clear that if the president approves the bill, quote ‘He shall sign it.’ He shall sign it, not an autopen, he shall sign it. That seems to strongly suggest he has to pick up a pen. There has to be a document. He has to put pen on paper and sign.”