On Monday, a day before the House Oversight Committee released a 93-page report outlining its conclusions from its monthslong investigation into former President Joe Biden’s use of the autopen to formalize clemency decisions, Justice Department official Ed Martin wrote an email to its chair.
Martin, the pardon attorney, told GOP Rep. James Comer that his “ongoing investigation” of the way that pardons and commutations were issued during Biden’s presidency had revealed “abuses” of the process by “political actors.” He wrote that his office would not defend any of the acts of clemency “without further investigation” – though there is no mechanism or precedent to reverse a pardon issued by a past president.
CNN obtained a copy of the email. Here it is in full.
Dear Chairman Comer,
Good to talk to your staff today about this very important matter.
As I mentioned on the phone, since we met in your office last June, I have been working on understanding the circumstances and facts that surroun
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