Adam Kinzinger demands ‘whiny’ Trump to ‘stop pretending’ like he’s ‘tough’ in a fiery statement
Former Illinois Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger challenged President Donald Trump to fight him, legally. Kinzinger was pardoned by former President Joe Biden for being part of a special committee aimed at investigating Trump’s involvement in the January 6th incident.
Biden gave preemptive pardons to House committee members that participated in the investigation of the January 6 incident. Trump took to Truth Social to “reverse” the pardons that Biden gave out. “The “Pardons” that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs and many others are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT,” Trump wrote on his account. The president believes that these pardons were invalid because they were signed with an autopen.
Additionally, the president further alleged that the pardoning documents were “not explained to or approved by Biden.” Trump’s language also suggested that the committee was merely formed to politically persecute him. Regardless, Kinzinger was unfazed by the president’s apparent reversal of the preemptive pardon. The former Republican representative responded to Trump on his official X account. “He knows that this is like the thing that embarrasses him,” Kinzinger alleged. He then taunted Trump further by calling him a “tiny man.”
“Stop pretending like you’re tough,” Kinzinger said in a separate CNN interview. To Kinzinger, it’s assumed that the president was merely mouthing threats. He also expressed that these rants were just a mere distraction ploy. Therefore, he’s trying to discern what the president is distracting people from.
Can Trump reverse pardons?
The premise of Trump’s argument stems from the thought that autopens couldn’t be used to sign pardons. Despite this claim, it’s unclear whether Biden used an autopen to sign the document. Not that it would have mattered, because a president’s manual hand signature isn’t required for an official pardon.
The use of an autopen also doesn’t undermine a president’s decision to approve of legislation or executive orders. Ironically, President Trump himself claimed to have used autopens. He defended his use of the autopen, and said, “….but only for very unimportant papers. And I don’t call them unimportant if you do letters—or if people write in… I’ll sign them whenever I can, but whenever I can’t, I’ll use an autopen.” What constitutes as “unimportant” for Trump, in this case, is vague.
All in all, it doesn’t matter whether or not Biden signed with an autopen. It doesn’t invalidate the preemptive pardons he gave to General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members of the January 6 committee. Trump has no legal authority to reverse the pardons. Additionally, Biden explained his rationale for the pardon.
The former president wrote, “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.” Biden’s motive was to protect the aforementioned people from Trump’s potential political vendetta. What a preventive and effective move that turned out to be.
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