Pen Name

The signer who wasn't there:

Tandem appeared before the committee under oath when she admitted to having been authorized to use the autopen between October 2021 and May 2023. However, she denied having misused or wielded the pen without Biden’s authority. “As staff secretary, I was responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the president,” she said, according to the Washington Examiner. “I was also authorized to direct that autopen signatures be affixed to certain categories of documents.” While Tandem was not linked to the most recent pardons, Biden pardoned six individuals convicted of various drug-related crimes and murder via autopen while vacationing in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on December 30, 2022. Tandem also admitted that she could not confirm whether those orders came directly from Biden, as the authorization system was inherited from previous administrations. “We had a system for authorizing the use of the autopen that I inherited from prior administrations. We employed that system throughout my tenure as staff secretary.” According to WCSI, Tandem would send decision memos to members of Biden’s inner circle and receive the necessary authorizations to use the autopen. However, she could not confirm the actions they took to obtain the former president’s approval.

It signed all on its own...