Fact Check: Did FBI implicate Elizabeth Warren in dozens of felonies?
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid controversies surrounding the autopen, a claim has been circulating on social media platforms that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has been implicated in dozens of felonies, according to a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sparking speculations. Let us analyze and fact-check the claim.
Claim: FBI's Autopen Task Force implicated Elizabeth Warren in two dozen felonies
According to a viral Facebook post, the FBI's Autopen Task Force submitted its first report to the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, implicating Elizabeth Warren in about two dozen felonies.
"She wasn't just authorizing pardons," Blanche allegedly said. "To the tune of about $30 million."
The post further claims that Blanche said the next step will be a lengthy process of securing evidence, managing witnesses, and pulling it all together for a grand jury.
"With some patience, we can put quite a few of the perpetrators of this fraud away for a long time,” Blanche further remarked, according to the post. “Senate Warren didn't just authorise illegal pardons. She sold them.”
The claim has spread on Facebook and X, garnering hundreds of thousands of views, triggering criticisms against Warren, while many questioned the claim’s authenticity.
Fact Check: The claim about the FBI implicating Elizabeth Warren originated as a satire
However, there are no official statements or announcements from the FBI or the acting Attorney General about implicating Warren in about two dozen felonies.
There are also no reports of Blanche making the above-mentioned statements.
If the claim were true, it would have been widely covered by prominent news media outlets, sparking nationwide debates and criticisms.
A search on Google for the FBI's Autopen Task Force yielded no credible results or reports from credible news outlets or from official government websites, except for the viral social media posts that made the claim.
Moreover, the claim was posted by a popular Facebook parody account called "America’s Last Line Defense," which describes itself as a satire.
Donald Trump revived autopen claims against Joe Biden
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen and called for officials from the previous administration to be arrested.
Trump claimed that documents signed with this mechanical signature device were invalid and unlawful.
He argued that Biden did not personally approve key government actions. However, using autopens is a common practice among US presidents, including Trump himself.
