Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused former President Joe Biden and senior administration officials of "demolishing" constitutional safeguards for presidential clemency in a letter that says the administration relied on an autopen and broad criteria rather than individualized reviews.
In a letter to Pam Bondi that was obtained by Fox News Digital, Cruz said recent reporting and internal emails raised doubts about whether clemencies issued in the final months of the Biden administration were the result of the president's explicit direction. Cruz offered to assist investigators examining the handling of the pardons and commutations.
Cruz, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of its Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, pointed to the constitutional language in Article II, Section 2 that vests the president with the power to grant reprieves and pardons. He wrote that the constitutional exercise of that power requires a clear line of custody and confidence that a pardon was granted at the president's direction.
"Everyone involved in the process — government officials purporting to issue a pardon, the person to whom it is being granted, judicial and law enforcement officials, and most of all the American people — should have absolute confidence a pardon was granted at the president’s explicit direction," Cruz wrote. He said the clemency process appeared to have been implemented "based on broad criteria rather than case-by-case evaluations, and at least some were signed using an autopen of then-President Biden’s signature."
Cruz's letter follows reporting by Axios that published internal emails in which Biden administration officials raised concerns about the decision-making process for certain pardons and the frequency of autopen use. The reporting said that in the closing months of the administration, the White House issued a large number of commutations and pardons: roughly 1,500 commutations and 39 pardons in December and, a little over a month later, roughly 2,500 additional commutations described as the most ever issued by a president in a single day.
Cruz said the emails showed a process that separated the president from the officials responsible for signing on his behalf, creating uncertainty about whether clemencies were granted at the president's direction either on a case-by-case basis or by application of broad criteria. He warned that if the integrity of the clemency process was compromised, the status of the pardons and commutations could be called into question and that officials involved should be held accountable.
The letter asks for records and offers Cruz's cooperation with ongoing inquiries. It comes amid multiple congressional and Justice Department probes into the administration's handling of its final clemency actions. Cruz said those probes are necessary to avoid what he described as a potential constitutional crisis in which other branches of government and the public cannot have faith in the exercise of Article II pardon power.
Legal scholars and former Justice Department officials have said presidential clemency is broadly within the president's discretion and generally immune from judicial review, but attorneys and lawmakers have also noted that customary process and transparency underpin public confidence in its exercise. Cruz's letter frames the concern as one of institutional trust and legal propriety rather than solely partisan objection.
Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who has participated in national Republican discussions, was the recipient of Cruz's letter. The correspondence adds to pressure on investigators to explain the procedures used in the run-up to the handoff between administrations and to determine whether statutory or procedural norms were violated.
The administration has previously defended its clemency decisions as appropriate exercises of presidential authority. Officials have said clemency decisions often involve broad considerations, such as criminal justice reform objectives, and that processes vary between administrations.
Cruz's intervention is likely to shape congressional oversight hearings and public debate over the final pardons and commutations, as lawmakers continue to seek internal records and testimony about how the decisions were made and who had authority to sign on the president's behalf. The Justice Department and congressional committees have not yet released definitive findings, and the matter remains subject to ongoing review.
As investigators continue to gather documents and testimony, the dispute raises broader questions about transparency and record-keeping in the final days of an administration and the mechanisms by which presidential powers are exercised and verified.