Former President Joe Biden did not closely review every case included in his sweeping end-of-term clemency spree and instead delegated vast authority to aides to handle the process, including to then-chief of staff Jeff Zients, who signed off on the use of an autopen to execute dozens of high-profile pardons on Biden’s final night in office.

A complicated web of aides handled the process behind the scenes. New emails reported by the New York Times show Biden’s staff set up a system months ahead that let lower-level assistants draft summaries of meetings they didn’t attend, based on what senior officials said Biden had decided. Those write-ups were then passed up the chain to Zients and White House counsel Ed Siskel, who signed off and sent the summaries to staff secretary Stefanie Feldman, the official who gave the green light for the autopen machine to stamp Biden’s name on hundreds of clemency warrants.