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‘Welcome to Autocracy’: Trump Declaring Biden’s Pardons ‘Void’ Debunked and Denounced

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President Donald Trump began his Mar-a-Lago golf weekend on Friday by alleging that whoever controlled the “autopen” was the true president during the Biden administration. He ended the weekend aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, declaring that President Joe Biden’s pardons are “null and void” and vowing that members of the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack would be investigated, despite Biden having granted them pardons.

Trump, apparently using information from the Heritage Foundation, alleged that the pardons were signed via an automated system called an “autopen,” and threatened the January 6 Committee members, saying they are now “subject to investigation at the highest level,” and accusing them of being behind the signing of the pardons by a mechanical device.

Experts say this is false on all fronts: The pardons were signed by President Biden, the online copies at the National Archives were digitally signed, as has been the practice for decades, but there are photos of Biden signing many of the pardons, and even if they were mechanically signed, they are still valid.

“Even if Biden did use an autopen, the Justice Department (DOJ) in 2005 stated: ‘The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law,’ so Trump’s argument is not legally valid,” Newsweek reported. “This autopen allegations are part of MAGA’s larger conspiracy that claims the Biden White House was covering up for his alleged cognitive decline while in office.”

READ MORE: ‘Sounds Like Putin’: Trump Blasted for Declaring Top News Organizations ‘Illegal’

Trump appeared prepared to pursue “voiding” the pardons, telling reporters on Air Force One it’s not his decision to make, but rather, it is up to the legal system.

“It’s not my decision. That’ll be up to a court. But I would say that they’re null and void, because I’m sure Biden didn’t have any idea that it was taking place,” President Trump alleged. And somebody was using an autopen to sign off and to give pardons to, as an example, just one example, but the J6 unselect committee.

“I don’t think Biden knew anything about it,” Trump repeated, before launching into a series of debunked conspiracy theories.

Trump also claimed that the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack “deleted and destroyed all of the information that took them over a year to get,” a claim popular among MAGA conspiracy theorists — including President Trump — but long ago found to be false.

The New York Times strongly pushed back against Trump’s claims:

“There is no power in the Constitution or case law to undo a pardon, and there is no exception to pardons signed by autopen. But Mr. Trump’s assertion, which embraced a baseless right-wing conspiracy theory about former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., was a new escalation of his antidemocratic rhetoric. Implicit in his post was Mr. Trump’s belief that the nation’s laws should be whatever he decrees them to be. And it was a jolting reminder that his appetite for revenge has not been sated.”

Trump followed his “null and void” claim board Air Force One with an early morning rant, writing at 12:35 AM Monday: “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, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen.”

READ MORE: White House Caught Admitting Real Reason for Mass Firings: Experts

“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level. The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!”

At the time President Biden signed the pardons, some had considered them controversial. But the Associated Press had called it “an extraordinary use of executive power to guard against potential ‘revenge’ by the new Trump administration.”

Legal experts and political observers alike are strongly denouncing Trump’s allegations.

“Trump CANNOT legally reverse Biden’s pardons. The bigger question is what improper and illegal actions will be taken by Trump’s DOJ and FBI that would fly in the face of those Biden pardons,” declared MSNBC legal contributor and correspondent Katie Phang,

“Welcome to autocracy. The Republic we have known for the last 240 years is gone. This is going to keep getting worse. Much worse. The courts mean nothing, the law means nothing, Congress is irrelevant. He is a malignant psychopath,” wrote attorney and former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski, a former Republican now the editor-in-chief of the liberal news site MeidasTouch.

Policy expert Neera Tanden, a high-level official in both the Obama and Biden administrations, asked, “does this mean everything with a Trump autopen signature is void in this Administration and the last? Because there’s a lot by autopen in every Administration. Some enterprising lawyers may want to sue.”

Tanden’s claim is supported by The Guardian, which cited Smithsonian Magazine’s report that ‘described how presidents since Thomas Jefferson have used devices to help them sign documents with greater efficiency. Jefferson, the third president from 1801 to 1809, used a polygraph, a device he found so useful he said he ‘could not live without it’.”

SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah commented, “We went to sleep in a democratic Republic. We woke up in a fascist state. That is the truth after reading this AM Trump has openly violated federal court orders and declared all pardons Pres Biden issued to those involved in Jan 6 investigation are now ‘void.’ History is warning us where this goes.”

CNN’s Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor said on-air, “there is no such thing as an ‘un-pardon’ power.”

Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov remarked, “For those who claimed Joe Biden went too far with his pardons, what do you say now? Donald Trump is not a king. He needs to stop trying to act like one.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Team Fight’: Democrats Call for Schumer to Resign

 

Image: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz via Flickr

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‘What Could Go Wrong?’: Religious AI Chatbots Let You Text With ‘Jesus’ — or ‘Satan’

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As Americans drift from organized religion and congregations consolidate, pastors are turning to artificial intelligence to shoulder parts of their ministry — while some worshippers are turning to AI for something else entirely. Certain AI tools help clergy manage schedules or craft sermons; others invite believers to text directly with “Jesus,” or even “Satan.”

Calling it a “new digital awakening,” Axios reports that “AI is helping some churches stay relevant in the face of shrinking staffs, empty pews and growing online audiences. But the practice raises new questions about who, or what, is guiding the flock.”

“New AI-powered apps allow you to ‘text with Jesus’ or ‘talk to the Bible,’ giving the impression you are communicating with a deity or angel,” according to Axios. “Other apps can create personalized prayers, let you confess your sins or offer religious advice on life’s decisions.”

READ MORE: GOP ‘Complicit’ in ‘Massive’ Epstein Files ‘Cover-Up’: Democrat

The apps that “allow” people to “talk” to “Jesus,” “Mary,” the “Bible,” or even “Satan” are reportedly the most popular.

“What could go wrong?” Robert P. Jones, CEO of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, sarcastically asked, according to Axios.

Text With Jesus bills itself as “a new, interactive way to engage with your faith.” Its website calls it “a revolutionary AI-powered chatbot app, designed for devoted Christians seeking a deeper connection with the Bible’s most iconic figures.”

In the FAQ section of the website, one question asks, “Am I really talking to Jesus? Isn’t this blasphemous?”

“Our app is a tool for exploration, education, and engagement with biblical narratives,” is the response, “and it is not intended to replace or mimic direct communication with divine entities, which is a deeply personal aspect of one’s faith.”

READ MORE: White House Eyes Major Blitz as GOP Voters Blame Trump for Failing Economy

Last month, FOX 32 Chicago reported on criticism of the app.

“Critics call the app blasphemous. In an essay for The PreachersWord, minister Ken Weliever wrote that he would ‘just open my Bible and read it for myself,’ questioning how accurate an AI ‘Jesus’ could ever be. He pointed to answers on same-sex marriage signed with rainbow emojis and called the app’s ‘Satan’ feature chilling.”

“Moody Center President James Spencer wrote in The Christian Post the AI ‘Jesus’ seemed ‘less concerned with fulfilling the Law and the Prophets than providing answers palatable to the itching ears of 21st century users.'”

According to the app’s Mac App Store pages, the company that produces Text With Jesus has additional offerings, including Text With History, Text With Authors, Texts From Bernie Sanders, and Texts From Oscar Wilde.

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

 

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GOP ‘Complicit’ in ‘Massive’ Epstein Files ‘Cover-Up’: Democrat

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The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee alleged a “massive coverup” of the Epstein files, accused congressional Republicans of being “complicit,” and signaled that he and his Democratic colleagues will release even more documents, likely later on Wednesday.

“Jeffrey Epstein referenced President Donald Trump in emails to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and a journalist, claiming in one that Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ according to emails released by House Democrats,” NBC News reported. “Democrats on the House Oversight committee released three email chains, sent between 2011 and 2019, saying the documents came from the convicted sex offender’s estate as part of the committee’s investigation of the Epstein case.”

Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) told MSNBC his committee received about 23,000 emails “last week, and we’ve been going through — our team, of course — through all of these very carefully over the last few days.”

READ MORE: White House Eyes Major Blitz as GOP Voters Blame Trump for Failing Economy

“We obviously released some today,” he said, referring to the bombshell emails. “We’ll be releasing additional documents, likely later today.”

Noting that “we’ve been demanding that Donald Trump and the DOJ release the full Epstein files,” Garcia added, “what’s been released today” are “some quite serious, I think, connections between what Donald Trump may have known.”

Garcia said, “what’s important right now is that we want to know why Donald Trump spent the entire campaign, saying that he would release the files. And now that he’s in the White House, there is a massive cover-up going on.”

Responding to claims from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that the release of the documents is a “hoax,” Garcia replied, “Then release all the files.”

READ MORE: Johnson Refuses to Commit to Key Part of Senate Shutdown Deal

“If the president has nothing to hide, if the press secretary were there in her comments and statement, if they have nothing to hide at the White House or Department of Justice, then all we want is for them to release the full files,” he urged. “You can’t spend your entire campaign, saying you’re gonna do something, and make a commitment to the American people, and then backtrack.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

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White House Eyes Major Blitz as GOP Voters Blame Trump for Failing Economy

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President Donald Trump’s advisers are weighing a plan to have him blitz the nation in a series of domestic speeches focused on the economy in an effort to battle the perception by a strong majority of Americans — including a majority of Republicans — that he is not doing enough to bring down prices.

The President campaigned on reducing inflation and the cost of living, but inflation has crept up over a five-month period and remains higher than during President Joe Biden’s last full month in office.

“We’re going to get the prices down,” Trump said on the campaign trail in September 2024. “We have to get them down. It’s too much. Groceries, cars, everything. We’re going to get the prices down.”

“But here’s a promise I’m making to you,” he said during that same speech. “I will cut your energy and electricity prices in half, 50%, 5-0, within 12 months of taking the oath of office. Within 12 months, within 12 months of taking the oath of office, I will cut your energy prices by 50%, and it’s not going to be hard.”

READ MORE: ‘The Whole Thing Is Imploding’: Chaos and Rebellion at America’s Top Right-Wing Think Tank

American voters apparently have not forgotten those promises. Trump’s approval rating currently sits at a new low and his disapproval rating at a new high, according to data from The New York Times‘ polling average tracker.

Trump appears to be pushing back, calling the cries for greater affordability a Democratic “con job,” while claiming inflation and prices are down.

On Tuesday, the White House said inflation is “way down,” despite evidence to the contrary.

“Look, Donald Trump might be trying to downplay voters’ concerns about affordability, but I’m here to tell you that is a ginormous error,” declared CNN analyst Harry Enten. “It may be an error that goes down in political infamy.”

“Donald Trump was elected was to fix the problem of inflation,” he reminded viewers. “Donald Trump is underwater with the Titanic when it comes to inflation. His net approval rating is 26 points underwater.”

“Now, of course, it’s one thing if voters don’t like the state of the economy,” he continued. “But it’s another thing when they don’t think that Donald Trump actually gives a hoot.”

Enten went on to show that 75% of Americans, including 57% of Republicans, say Trump is “not paying enough attention to lowering costs.”

READ MORE: Johnson Refuses to Commit to Key Part of Senate Shutdown Deal

“If these numbers hold, and Donald Trump continues to try to ignore a problem that Americans very much think we have in terms of costs of living, affordability,” Enten said, “well, it might be adios, amigos, goodbye for that House Republican majority, and, I dare say, the Republican Senate majority as well.”

Trump’s White House advisers appear to be aware of the growing discontent across the nation.

“President Donald Trump’s advisers have had conversations about him traveling the country to give economy-focused speeches as they privately weigh a number of strategies to improve his standing on the issue, administration officials told CNN,” the news network reported on Wednesday.

“White House officials have advised the president not to brush away or outright dismiss that Americans are feeling squeezed by rising prices, they said. They have been actively putting ‘policy time’ — as one of the officials characterized it — on Trump’s schedule with the goal of accelerating the administration’s efforts to tackle inflation.”

“You can’t convince people that their experience, what they’re feeling at home, isn’t reality,” one of the officials acknowledged to CNN.

CNN also reported that advisers are weighing having Trump travel the country to give speeches about what he is doing to lower prices, although his recent claims, like planning to send low- and middle-income Americans $2,000 tariff dividend checks, are seen as unlikely by some experts.

READ MORE: White House Says Inflation’s ‘Way Down’ — Americans Aren’t Buying It

 

Image via Reuters 

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