Oversight Project Demands DOJ to Act on Trump Reversal of Biden Autopen Clemency
Fred Lucas /
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Oversight Project is calling for the Justice Department to keep incarcerated prisoners whose Biden autopen clemencies were voided by President Donald Trump.
The watchdog group shared a video with The Daily Signal that focused on two individuals whose sentences former President Joe Biden had commuted.
The Oversight Project was the first to call attention to the mass number of presidential actions taken via autopen.
This prompted a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee inquiry that found senior Biden White House officials were unclear if Biden was aware of the actions taken with his autopen.
Biden’s own words during a New York Times interview published in July reveal that he was aware of “categories” of people with clemency, but not individuals.
Three days before leaving office, the Biden White House issued a statement that said he gave clemency to “nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses” who had what they viewed as disproportionately long sentences. However, the Oversight Project later obtained documents from Biden’s own Justice Department that warned the White House against releasing some of the individuals who were violent offenders.
The documents show a Biden Justice Department attorney raised concerns about what he called a “highly problematic” review process for what the White House characterized as nonviolent offenders.
Prison sentences commuted, apparently by autopen, include inmates who carried out violent crimes. Others were apparent gang members. The video highlights two individuals whose sentences Biden commuted and who were to be released days after Christmas.
“Enough is enough. The American people want accountability and results. President Trump has been emphatically clear that autopenned actions are null and void,” Oversight Project President Mike Howell said. “The Trump administration should not allow these gang-bangers to roam American streets with an autopen pardon or commutation in their back pocket, probably right next to their gun and drugs.”
“It is the opposite of law and order and I know that President Trump does not want that,” Howell continued.
He added: “I’m sick of seeing these gangbangers being released by this Department of Justice. Arresting those released and refusing to release any more gangbangers would be a great result and entirely justified legally.”
The Oversight Project’s video references two individuals who received clemency.
Kewaannee Williams was sentenced to seven years and six months. His sentence was commuted to under three and half years just ahead of Biden’s departure. Williams is set to be released on Dec. 28, according to the Oversight Project.
Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deal crack cocaine and other offenses.
The Oversight Project referenced court records showing the Justice Department initially sought a sentence of 120 months because Williams was a leader in a New York City gang that dealt drugs.
The attorney for Williams, Benjamin Zeman, told The Daily Signal the U.S. attorney’s office negotiated the case and that his client didn’t plead down. Frequently, felons plead down to a lower offense.
“He pleaded guilty to what he took responsibility for,” Zeman said.
In a July 2022 sentencing memorandum with the Southern District of New York, Zeman wrote: “We submit that, given the unstable circumstances of Mr. Williams’s early life, his substance abuse history, the promise of his young and hopeful family, the voluntary withdrawal from this behavior more than a year-and-a-half before his arrest and his willingness to accept responsibility for this criminal activity, a sentence to 60 months incarceration is justified in this case and sufficiently balances the various goals of sentencing.”
The Oversight Project video also references Jason Gonzalez, who was sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Gonzalez, who was sentenced in 2022, is set to be released on Dec. 27. The federal government initially sought a 136-month sentence based on his alleged role in a gang and owing to a previous conviction of attempted murder, according to federal court documents referenced by the Oversight Project.
The attorney for Gonzalez, Thomas Ambrosio, said guidelines are not mandatory, and there were many mitigating circumstances.
“Mr. Gonzalez had a longstanding drug addiction. The crimes he committed were driven by his drug addiction,” Ambrosio told The Daily Signal.
The July 2022 sentencing memorandum that Ambrosio wrote to the Southern District of New York acknowledged that his client at age 19 shot someone in the leg. He added that the attempted murder was charged in a New York state court.
“People plead to attempted murder in New York without ever saying they tried to kill someone,” Ambrosio said. “They’re told ‘time served if you agree to plead guilty to attempted murder.’”
Earlier this month, Trump announced on Truth Social: “Any and all Documents, Proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts, signed by Order of the now infamous and unauthorized ‘AUTOPEN,’ within the Administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., are hereby null, void, and of no further force or effect. Anyone receiving “Pardons,” “Commutations,” or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect.”
During Biden’s four years in office, the White House issued 4,245 acts of clemency. That’s more than the previous record of 3,796 held by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Of those, 96% were granted between Oct. 1, 2024, and Jan. 20, 2025.