Hours before handing over power on January 20, Joe Biden granted a series of preemptive pardons to elected officials and civil servants to protect them from "unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions."

On his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump declared on Monday that the preemptive pardons granted by his predecessor Joe Biden to several Republican pet peeves were invalid. "The pardons that sleepy Joe Biden granted to the unelected committee of political thugs, and many others, are hereby declared NULL, VOID, AND OF NO EFFECT," Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday night, statements with uncertain legal consequences.

Just hours before handing over power on January 20, Joe Biden granted a series of preemptive pardons to elected officials and civil servants to protect them from "unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions." He notably granted protection to former Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, former White House Covid-19 strategy architect Dr. Anthony Fauci, and elected officials and civil servants who participated in a commission investigating the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol.

"Very, very guilty of very serious crimes"

Donald Trump baselessly accused members of the January 6 Commission of being responsible for their own pardons, without Joe Biden's knowledge, and claimed that they were "subject to investigation at the highest levels." The legal implications of these claims were not immediately clear. Without providing any evidence, Donald Trump also claimed that the pardons were issued by "automatic pen."

The US head of state had previously posted a meme on his platform depicting his Democratic predecessor's signature made with an automatic pen-wielding arm, suggesting that Joe Biden did not sign his own decisions. While he vowed to take "revenge" on his political opponents, on the day of his inauguration he had criticized the pardons granted to people "very, very guilty of very serious crimes."