In a stunning revelation that underscores just how detached former President Joe Biden was in his final hours in office, reports now confirm Biden didn’t even sign off on his last presidential pardons.

Instead, the real power fell to a man the American people never elected — Biden’s former COVID czar and Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients.

According to The New York Times, on January 19, 2025 — Biden’s final full day in office — White House aides scrambled to finalize a list of last-minute pardons and commutations. At precisely 10:03 p.m., a summary of Biden’s so-called “decisions” was circulated among top staffers. Roughly half an hour later, at 10:31 p.m., Zients sent a group email with a chilling line:

“I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons.”

Translation: The final round of presidential pardons wasn’t approved by Joe Biden — it was greenlit by Jeff Zients.

This wasn’t just bureaucratic process; it was a quiet usurpation of one of the most powerful presidential tools. And one of the names on that list?

Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Yes, the very same Fauci who dictated lockdown policies, pushed mask mandates on schoolchildren, demanded unconstitutional vaccine requirements, and dismissed dissenting scientists as conspiracy theorists — was handed a full pardon. Not just for any specific charge, but for “any offenses” committed or participated in from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon.

It appears Fauci didn’t get his pardon from Joe Biden — he got it from a friend.

Zients and Fauci worked closely during Biden’s COVID-19 response, despite Zients having no public health experience. ABC News even admitted this in 2021. Yet Zients was put in charge of the entire federal pandemic strategy, further solidifying his cozy relationship with Fauci.

It’s not a stretch to imagine that Zients had a vested interest in protecting his longtime pandemic partner from ever facing legal scrutiny for his decisions. And now we know: he had the means to do it.

Zients’ background is equally concerning. According to The Daily Caller, Zients held executive roles in healthcare companies accused of Medicare and Medicaid fraud. One paid a $6.88 million settlement with the DOJ. Another shelled out $150 million.

Zients also served on Facebook’s board, helped launch a firm linked to surprise medical billing, and amassed a fortune from the very industries he would later oversee as a so-called "public servant."

He’s made millions — before, during, and now likely after his time in the White House.

Yet when it came time to wield one of the most solemn authorities of the presidency — the power to grant clemency — it wasn’t Joe Biden who made the call.

It was Jeff Zients, a consummate insider with zero electoral accountability and a long trail of conflicts.

This is the same autopen sleight-of-hand that critics warned about during Biden’s presidency — a deeply frail leader whose staff often acted in his name rather than at his direction. As Zients moved to push pardons through in Biden’s final hours, he seemed to confirm every suspicion about who was really running the show.

Fauci got his pardon. Thousands more were handed clemency. And if the Times is to be believed, Biden was little more than a bystander in his own presidency’s last act.