WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this week that pardons issued by former President Joe Biden before leaving office are "void, vacant, and of no further force or effect" because they were signed using an autopen. Trump also claimed that Biden was unaware of the pardons.

The claims look to be a further test of the executive power the president has and another test of the justice system under the Trump administration.

It's not just that the pardons were signed with an autopen. It's that clearly the former president Joe Biden had absolutely no awareness of or any clue about what was being signed in his name when he's on a beach in Delaware doing God knows what," White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told reporters Monday.

The use of autopen signatures has been a point of contention. The machine is used to recreate a presidential signature. A 2005 Department of Justice opinion from the George W. Bush administration stated that autopen signatures are permissible.

"The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves," the opinion noted.

"Presidents do use auto pens. Obviously, it's not the best practice when you're issuing a pardon to use an autopen. But, in fact, a pardon doesn't even have to be in writing. A President can give a verbal issuance of a pardon," said John P. Fishwick Jr., a former U.S. Attorney.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Trump ally, has called for an investigation into whether Biden approved the pardons, citing concerns about Biden's mental state. He made his public demand at the beginning of the month.

The question over the pardons then made its way through Trump-friendly and MAGA media, before the President ultimately made his Truth Social post.

Members of the January 6th committee have largely dismissed Trump's claims.

So there was just one signature for everybody on the committee. That's the same way that Donald Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 insurrectionists, including hundreds of violent cop assaulters," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.

Trump acknowledged using an autopen himself but stated it was only for "very unimportant papers."

The extent of how far the president wants to push the issue is unknown right now, but his Justice Department could call for testimony from Biden officials over the alleged claims. Whether or not there is any legal reversal of the pardons might not matter if the political damage has already been done.