DOJ Scrambles Over Biden’s Late-Term Clemency Grants Amid Vetting Gaps

Internal emails reveal that many of President Biden’s final clemency actions bypassed the Justice Department’s usual review, leaving officials to sort out unclear commutations and correct errors.

Emails obtained by Protect the Public’s Trust indicate that the Justice Department was caught off guard by President Biden’s end-of-term clemency spree, with officials uncertain whether certain sentences were covered and having to amend mistaken notices, such as the description of Hunter Biden’s pardon. A career offender’s 235-month term raised questions about whether a separate commutation applied, prompting a deputy pardon attorney to offer the "most sensible reading" while noting many grants lacked normal vetting.

Judge Daniel Hovland publicly demanded explanations after finding that neither sentencing judges, prosecutors nor victims were contacted about more than a dozen North Dakota commutations. Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares criticized the gap between the administration’s public portrayal and the internal reality. The Department confirmed that roughly 1,500 December 12 commutations were granted as a group of home-confined inmates identified by the Bureau of Prisons, without individualized reviews.