The Trump administration justifies its decision to cancel the amnesties decreed by Joe Biden by using an "autopen." A device dedicated to signatures that is little known to the general public. We explain what it's all about.
The latest controversy adds to a long and very worrying list of breaches of democracy in the United States. President Donald J. Trump has just announced the cancellation of presidential pardons from the Joe Biden era. In particular, those aimed at protecting police officers and agents responsible for investigating the assault on the Capitol by supporters of the billionaire.
Beyond the seriousness of this decision for the free course of justice, the reason given by the president surprises many Internet users. President Joe Biden would have used an "autopen" to sign these pardons. A term that rarely surfaces in the news, although it designates a device widely used by companies and governments around the world.
An autopen is simply a machine sign
An autopen is a type of plotter printer. It is a printer designed to plot vector drawings with a conventional pen. The signature of the president, or manager whose signature is required, is scanned and transferred to an encrypted removable storage device.
From there, it is possible to automate the "handwritten" signing of documents using the machine. This can be very useful for executive orders, laws, and decrees that can run to many pages and pile up fairly quickly on a president's desk.
Donald Trump's argument for invalidating the pardons signed by President Biden is that using an autopen to sign presidential pardons renders them void. He leaves open the idea that others could have used his signature without his knowledge to sign the famous documents.
This is an unconvincing argument for two reasons. First, because the former White House occupant had spoken several times about these pardons before signing them. But also, secondly, because as we told you, the signature itself is encrypted on a removable medium (kept by the president himself).
Using one's signature in an autopen can only take place after entering a personal code. Which de facto operates as a sort of electronic signature. However, as the checks and balances likely to control the 47th president of the United States fall one after the other, there are reasons to fear that, however shaky, Donald Trump's justification has every chance of establishing itself as gospel truth.
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