Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Sunday that Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, could question former first lady Jill Biden and the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Republican lawmakers have been rallying against former President Joe Biden for his use of an autopen to issue pardons. The committee has called Biden administration officials to Capitol Hill to testify.
“Even though Anthony Fauci has been pardoned, there is some question whether it’s a legitimate pardon. His pardon wasn’t signed by President Biden,” Paul said during an appearance on the radio show Cats Roundtable on WABC 770 AM.
“It’s unclear whether President Biden is mentally cognizant enough of the situation to know who he pardoned. Hundreds and hundreds of people were pardoned in a day by a mechanical signature from a machine. We do know there’s been testimony from the people running the machine that they never talked to the president, that they talked to an assistant that works for the president’s wife,” he added.
Many members of the Biden administration have pleaded their Fifth Amendment rights in the congressional investigation. Biden’s chief of staff until 2023, however, testified for several hours last week.
Biden has argued that other presidents in previous administrations have used an autopen. Republicans have still questioned their validity.
Paul pointed to Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden that was seemingly not signed using an autopen.
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“I think there is a question whether these pardons are valid. Interestingly, when he had to do the pardon for his son, he didn’t take any chances by running it for the autopen,” Paul said.
“The pardon for Hunter Biden for any crimes committed over the last 10 years, any crimes, was done by personal hand signature by Biden, not the autopen,” he added.