Justice Department quietly replaced 'identical' Trump signatures on recent pardons

Source: abc



President Donald Trump is facing new scrutiny over the use of a replicated signature on several recent pardons

JIM MUSTIAN BRIAN SLODYSKO MATT BROWN November 14, 2025, 7:51 PM


WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department posted pardons online bearing identical copies of President Donald Trump’s signature before quietly correcting them this week after what the agency called a “technical error.”

The replacements came after online commenters seized on striking similarities in the president's signature across a series of pardons dated Nov. 7, including those granted to former New York Mets player Darryl Strawberry, former Tennessee House speaker Glen Casada and former New York police sergeant Michael McMahon. In fact, the signatures on several pardons initially uploaded to the Justice Department's website were identical, two forensic document experts confirmed to The Associated Press.

Within hours of the online speculation, the administration replaced copies of the pardons with new ones that did not feature identical signatures. It insisted Trump, who mercilessly mocked his predecessor’s use of an autopen, had originally signed all the Nov. 7 pardons himself and blamed “technical” and staffing issues for the error, which has no bearing on the validity of the clemency actions.
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“A basic axiom of handwriting identification science is that no two signatures are going to bear the exact same design features in every aspect,” said Tom Vastrick, a Florida-based handwriting expert who is president of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners. ..........................

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/justice-department-quietly-replaced-identical-trump-signatures-recent-127542346

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