Trying to understand Prez Trump’s unclear claims about former Prez Biden’s pardons

Prez Trump via this Truth Social post makes a variety of unclear claims while asserting that “many” of former Prez Bidens pardons “are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT.” Like many social media postings, there seems to be more rambling than argument in Prez Trump’s post, and here is the full text:

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. 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!

I am not aware of any legal holdings or even suggestions that a properly authorized presidential pardon signed by autopen would be legally invalid.  Indeed, a 2005 Justice Department opinion explained why autopen could be used to sign bills into law, and I do not think this view has ever been legally challenged.  (That said, if it was undisputed that someone else “executed pardons by autopen” without a President’s express approval or even knowledge, it seems reasonable to expect such “fake pardons” would be deemed fraudulent and invalid.)  Given that Prez Trump has long had an uneasy relationship with the truth in various contexts, I am disinclined to credit his assertions (or “declarations”) in this context.

That said, it seems worth noting that even an entirely valid pardon, preemptive or otherwise, likely would not generally serve to prevent someone from being “subject to investigation.”  Though a federal pardon generally can and does preclude any and all federal criminal prosecutions/punishments, state criminal actions as well as federal and state civil actions (and related investigations) are generally not formally or informally precluded by pardons.  

In the end, I suspect Prez Trump’s posting is primarily an effort to create a news cycle around his perceived “enemies,” and not a statement that his administration is planning to pursue federal criminal prosecution of some who received clemency from former Prez Biden.  But, given all the unpredicatable and chaotic developments less than two months into Prez Trump’s second term (including in the clemency spece), I know better than to make any firm predictions here.