Comer vows 'accountability,' Trump rips 'scandal' after bombshell report on Biden autopen pardons

"As President Biden declined, his aides carried out executive actions without his approval, casting doubt on the legitimacy of thousands of pardons and other executive actions."

A former Biden White House staffer familiar with the pardons process pushed back.

"Republicans like to talk about Biden whenever news hits that they don't want to talk about. Today, they want to talk about Biden because Trump is responsible for the latest jobs report, which is the worst August jobs gain since 2020," the staffer told Fox News Digital.

"What these emails show is a full process to support that decision-making and checks on the use of the autopen."

Axios reported over the weekend that senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials flagged issues with Biden's clemency process in his final days in office.

Biden approved nearly 2,500 commutations on Jan. 17, just days before leaving the White House, setting a record for most clemency orders ever granted by a U.S. president - more than 4,200 in total - and the most ever in a single day.

The next day, DOJ ethics lawyer Bradley Weinsheimer reportedly wrote in a memo: "Unfortunately and despite repeated requests and warnings, we were not afforded a reasonable opportunity to vet and provide input on those you were considering."

Meanwhile, Axios reported that a DOJ pardon attorney took issue with White House lawyers asking the department not to solicit views of murder victims' families of multiple death row inmates if it had not already done so - including people whose sentences Biden commuted as well.

The Axios report further revealed that Biden White House staff secretary Stef Feldman repeatedly sought clarity on the autopen process. In one Jan. 16 email, she asked for details on drug-related clemency orders approved by then-Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. After being asked to use autopen on an executive order, Feldman reportedly wrote: "When did we get [Biden's] approval of this?"

The former Biden staffer insisted the process was sound.

"The pardon power rests with the president - not the Department of Justice," the staffer said. "While the DOJ is free to raise its own concerns about pardons, and did before Trump fired all of the career staff who did so, it is ultimately the President's decision."

Zients is expected to testify before the Oversight Committee later this month. Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is also scheduled for a closed-door interview Friday.