The Justice Department (DOJ) posted Pardons Online bearing Identical Copies of Trump’s (R) Signature before quietly Correcting them this week, after what the Agency called a “Technical Error.” The Replacements came after Online Commenters seized on striking Similarities in Trump's Signature across a series of Pardons dated Nov. 7th, including those Granted to former New York Mets Player Darryl Strawberry, former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, and former New York Police Sergeant Michael McMahon. In fact, the Signatures on several Pardons initially uploaded to the DOJ's Website were Identical, Two ForensicDdocument Experts Confirmed.
Within Hours of the Online Speculation, the Administration Replaced Copies of the Pardons with New Ones that did Not feature Identical Signatures. It insisted Trump, who mercilessly mocked his Predecessor’s use of an Autopen, had Originally Signed All the Nov. 7th Pardons Himself and blamed “Technical” and Staffing Issues for the Error, which has No Bearing on the Validity of the Clemency Actions.
The Questions about Trump’s Signature come amid a New Flurry of Clemency and weeks after Trump claimed to Not even know Changpeng Zhao, a Crypto Billionaire He Pardoned last month. He said in an Interview with 60 Minutes that the Case had been “a Biden Witch Hunt.” But Xhao paid millions to Brokers to get His Name infront of Trump. “A basic axiom of handwriting identification science is that no two signatures are going to bear the exact same design features in every aspect,” said Tom Vastrick, a Florida-based Handwriting Expert who is President of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners. “It’s very straightforward,” said Vastrick, who compared the apparently Identical Images, now only Visible through the Online Internet Archive.
Chad Gilmartin (R), a DOJ Sspokesperson, said the “website was updated after a technical error where one of the signatures President Trump personally signed was mistakenly uploaded multiple times due to staffing issues caused by the democrat shutdown. There is no story here other than the fact that Trump signed seven pardons by hHand and DOJ posted those same seven pardons with seven unique signatures to our website,” Gilmartin said in a Statement to AP, referring to the latest wave of clemency Trump has granted in recent weeks.
White House Spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote in an email that Trump “signed each one of these pardons by hand as he does with all pardons. The media should spend their time investigating Joe Biden’s countless auto penned pardons, not covering a non-story,” She wrote.
Trump has been an Outspoken Critic of Biden's use of the Autopen to Conduct Executive Business, going as far as to Display a Picture of One such Device in place of a Portrait of His Predecessor in a New “Presidential Walk of Fame” He created along the West Wing Colonnade. His Republican Allies in Congress last month, Released a blistering Critique of Biden's Alleged “Diminished Faculties” and Mental state during His Term that Ranked the Democrat’s use of the Autopen among “the greatest scandals in U.S. history.”
On Friday, Republicans who Control the Committee, Released a Statement that characterized Trump’s potential use of an Electronic Signature as Legitimate, which it Distinguished from Biden’s. But Rep. Dave Min (D-CA, 47th District) on the House Oversight Committee, Seized on the Apparent Similarities in the Initial Version of the Pardons and Called for an Investigation of the matter, Deploying the Republican Arguments against Biden in a Statement that “we need to better understand who is actually in charge of the White House, because Trump seems to be slipping.”
Regardless, Legal Experts say the use of an Autopen has No bearing on the Validity of the Pardons. “The key to pardon validity is whether the president intended to grant the pardon,” said Frank Bowman, a Legal Historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law, who is Writing a Book on Pardons. “Any re-signing is an obvious, and rather silly, effort to avoid comparison to Biden.”
Much of Trump’s Mercy has gone to Political Allies, Campaign Donors, and Fraudsters who Claimed they were Victims of a “Weaponized” DOJ. Trump has largely Cast Aside a Process that Historically has been Overseen by Nonpolitical Personnel at the DOJ.
White House Chief-of-Staff (COS) Susie Wiles (R) has now Assumed Greater Authority over the Presidential Clemency Process, tightening Internal Controls and Reasserting Oversight, after Reports that Political Insiders and Lobbyists were attempting to Profit from Access to Trump’s Pardon Power.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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