For months, President Donald Trump has aggressively promoted a conspiracy principle suggesting that former President Joe Biden was so mentally impaired that his employees manipulated him into signing paperwork throughout his presidency that he had not truly permitted.
The wild principle grew out of Biden’s use of an autopen gadget, a machine that replicates an individual’s signature. Presidents have used such gadgets for many years to streamline the signing course of — however Trump has been relentless in his pursuit of spinning Biden’s use right into a scandal, suggesting lots of his orders are “VOID.”
Specifically, nullifying Biden’s presidential pardons would make it simpler for Trump to go after much more of his political enemies within the courts. Folks like “shifty” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), whom he dubbed a “low IQ war hawk.”
So when Trump added a gallery of presidential portraits to the West Wing colonnade, Biden’s image was conspicuously absent, changed with {a photograph} of an autopen gadget. Trump has talked up the conspiracy principle quite a few instances throughout questioning from the press, no matter whether or not he was particularly requested about it, and even talked about it throughout fully unrelated speeches. In Might, he declared that “whoever was using” the gadget was primarily “usurping the power of the Presidency.”
“With the exception of the RIGGED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020, THE AUTOPEN IS THE BIGGEST POLITICAL SCANDAL IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!!” Trump wrote in June. He ordered an investigation into Biden’s autopen use the identical month.
That’s what made his “60 Minutes” admission so astounding.
Requested by CBS Information’ Norah O’Donnell to justify his determination to pardon crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, Trump responded: “I don’t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”
Trump pardoned Zhao, who goes by CZ, lower than two weeks in the past.
However by his personal telling, not solely was he not completely conscious of his motion, he was leaning on data relayed to him by others — simply as he accused Biden of doing.
Zhao — who created Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trade — was pardoned after pleading responsible to enabling cash laundering in 2023.
O’Donnell approached Trump with a line of questioning concerning the pardon, provided that his household has made thousands and thousands from cryptocurrency, drawing accusations that Trump had corruptly pardoned Zhao so as to enrich the Trump clan.
(You’ll be able to learn your complete transcript of his “60 Minutes” interview right here.)
The president’s response was to distance himself from Zhao whereas reaffirming his assist for the cryptocurrency trade as a complete. He mentioned that his sons are “involved in crypto much more” than he’s.
“I know very little about it, other than one thing. It’s a huge industry. And if we’re not gonna be the head of it, China, Japan or someplace else is. So I am behind it 100%,” Trump mentioned.
“This man was, in my opinion — from what I was told — this is, you know, a four-month sentence. But this man was treated really badly by the Biden administration. And he was given a jail term. He’s highly respected. He’s a very successful guy. They sent him to jail and they really set him up.”
“That’s my opinion. I was told about it,” Trump mentioned.
O’Donnell tried once more to ask concerning the corruption accusations.
“How do you address the appearance of pay-for-play?” she mentioned.
“Well, here’s the thing, I know nothing about it because I’m too busy doing the other —” Trump started to answer.
O’Donnell interrupted to level out he had signed a presidential pardon for the person, which isn’t any small factor.
“Norah, I can only tell you this. My sons are into it. I’m glad they are, because it’s probably a great industry, crypto. I think it’s good,” Trump mentioned. “You know, they’re running a business, they’re not in government.”
“My one son is a No. 1 bestseller now. My wife just had a No. 1 bestseller. I’m proud of them for doing that. I’m focused on this. I know nothing about the guy, other than I hear he was a victim of weaponization by government,” he mentioned.
Trump, like Biden, isn’t any stranger to questions on his psychological health. The 2 males are solely about three years aside in age.
Trump is now making two arguments that don’t seem to sit down effectively collectively: The pardon he issued a billionaire crypto tycoon shouldn’t be scrutinized as a result of he doesn’t completely know who Zhao is, however that Biden’s pardons ought to be scrutinized for primarily the identical cause.
