Is President Donald Trump correct, and the fact that former President Joe Biden apparently used an autopen to sign some presidential pardons issued before he left office makes them invalid?

That’s our Question of the Week for readers.

For at least 14 years, American presidents have sometimes used the automatic devices that can be operated remotely to affix their signatures to legislation and other presidential directives, much as many of us use such devices and software to sign various forms and legal documents online.

Biden happened to use the autopen when signing pre-emptive pardons for members of the bipartisan House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol in case Trump were to try to get his Justice Department to prosecute them.

“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,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday night.

And then he went farther, raising the possibility that Biden wasn’t even involved in the pardon decision at all: “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”

Do you think that’s true? Should all presidential signatures have to be performed the old-fashioned way, with pen and ink, the way they had been for hundreds of years before contemporary technology allowed this option?

It’s unclear if Trump himself has ever signed a bill or directive with the autopen, although he says his administration does sometimes use it “to send some young person a letter.”

“But to sign pardons and all of the things he signed with an autopen, is disgraceful,” Trump said of the Biden pardons. Is it disgraceful? Or is Trump trying to undo pardons Biden granted for people whom the president sees as his political enemies? Will a court agree with Trump?

Email your thoughts to opinion@scng.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence. Provide a daytime phone number (it will not be published).