The White House accused a Biden staffer of impersonating then-chief of staff Jeff Zients to approve the use of autopen to pardon several of the former president’s family members.
In a White House memorandum to chief of staff Susie Wiles, obtained by the Washington Examiner, White House counsel detailed the incident.
Rosa Po, an adviser to Zients, wrote an email to Zients and White House Deputy Chief of Policy Bruce Reed, detailing a summary of a meeting in which the pardon of several Biden family members were discussed. Po asked if it was possible to send the same email to the Staff Secretary.
And at the end of her email, Po writes, “And Jeff – I will respond from you AFTER this email is sent saying you approve the use of the autopen for all of the pardons in this email.”
Reed approved the use of the autopen one minute later, signing as “JZ,” and two minutes after that, Zients conveyed the same message.
The White House says that “it seems possible” Po was impersonating Zients or Reed or both without informing the Staff Secretary.
The former president controversially pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, after he was charged for a gun offense in Delaware and a tax offense in California. He also preemptively pardoned several other family members right before he left office.
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Biden’s use of the autopen has also been controversial, especially as outside observers have questioned his mental fitness to be president then. It was thought that the power circle around him was making more decisions than the former president himself.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Po for comment.
