Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow is calling foul on what he describes as one of the most brazen abuses of executive power in modern history. On Newsmax TV’s “Finnerty” Wednesday, Marlow torched former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to issue sweeping pardons—accusing him of bypassing constitutional responsibility and shielding allies without proper authority.
The controversy centers around a batch of high-profile pardons Biden signed—or rather, didn’t sign. According to host Rob Finnerty, Biden pardoned numerous political and personal associates using an autopen device, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, his own sister Valerie Biden Owens, his sister-in-law Sara Biden, as well as anti-Trump Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Adam Schiff. The only exception? Hunter Biden.
Finnerty pointedly asked Marlow what this meant for the future of these pardons—and Marlow didn’t hold back.
“The biggest dead giveaway here is that he signed the Hunter pardon,” Marlow said. “That’s the most important detail of this whole story. He knew that it would be too suspicious, it’d be too risky, he wouldn’t know for sure that it was a done deal unless he signed it himself.”
Marlow went on to suggest that Biden’s personal involvement in that single pardon proves he knew the autopen method was shaky legal ground.
“That’s an admission that the other pardons are illegitimate,” he argued. “They should be null and void.”
The use of autopens—mechanical devices that replicate a person’s signature—has long been a topic of legal and ethical debate in Washington. While they’ve been used in rare cases for official correspondence or even legislation when the president is traveling, applying them to criminal pardons is virtually unprecedented and may push the boundaries of executive power.
“We’ve never tested something like this in terms of whether or not it’s illegal,” Marlow admitted. “But clearly it should be.”
He added that this issue is destined for a lengthy legal battle, potentially ending up in the Supreme Court. “It’s going to have to work its way through the court system,” he said. “All those people should be held to account in courts of law going forward.”
The broader implications are massive. If courts determine that an autopen signature on a presidential pardon lacks constitutional validity, a long list of influential figures—some facing possible criminal exposure—could find themselves back under legal scrutiny.
Republican lawmakers have already begun to seize on the controversy. A bill recently introduced in the House by GOP Rep. Ben Cline seeks to ban the use of autopens for any form of clemency, citing the need for “real accountability and personal responsibility” when exercising the most serious powers of the presidency.
Critics argue that Biden’s move was a strategic end-run around the public backlash that would have come from openly pardoning such a wide cast of polarizing figures. By using the autopen, he may have hoped to grant favors quietly while distancing himself from direct political fallout.
But Marlow says the damage is already done—and it proves Biden always knew the Hunter pardon needed his own hand.
“If the other ones were legitimate, he would’ve signed them all,” he said. “But he didn’t. That tells you everything.”
As legal analysts and political watchdogs begin to dig deeper into the constitutional questions this raises, the autopen scandal may be just beginning. And if the courts agree with Marlow, it could be one of the most explosive undoings of a presidential act in decades.