Former President Joe Biden speaks during a conference of the Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled (ACRD) at the Sofitel Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, on April 15, 2025. (Tannen Maury/AFP via Getty Images)
"With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history," Biden said in a statement on Jan. 17.
However, Axios reported that the following day, senior Justice Department ethics attorney Bradley Weinsheimer argued in a memo that describing those who were pardoned as nonviolent was "untrue, or at least misleading."
"Unfortunately and despite repeated requests and warnings, we were not afforded a reasonable opportunity to vet and provide input on those you were considering," Weinsheimer wrote, according to Axios.
The news agency said Weinsheimer mentioned a man who pleaded guilty to murder-related charges.
Weinsheimer described how the Justice Department labeled the man as "problematic," yet Biden commuted his sentence, Axios reported.
"I have no idea if the president was aware of these backgrounds when making clemency decisions," Weinsheimer reportedly added.
Ed Siskel, the former head of the White House Counsel's office, and representatives for Biden did not immediately respond Saturday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
'SHOULD BE PROSECUTED': HOUSE REPUBLICANS ZERO IN ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS AFTER BOMBSHELL REPORT
Former President Joe Biden welcomed then-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump to the White House ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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"This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations," he added at the time.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-biden-officials-questioned-criticized-how-his-team-issued-pardons-used-autopen-report