US President Joe Biden’s latest move has revived allegations raised by Donald Trump of the US Department of Justice being manipulated by political powerhouses. In a stunning volte face, Mr Biden today extended the Presidential pardon to his convicted son Hunter Biden, who was days away from being sentenced to decades in prison.
Joe Biden’s move has raised questions about the US Department of Justice and its charges in the Adani case, as many geopolitical experts have pointed out on several occasions.
HUNTER BIDEN’S CASE
Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, was not just an accused, but found guilty and convicted for gun crimes in the US and for tax evasion of over $1.4 million. He was facing separate prison sentences of 17 years in the gun crime case and up to 25 years for tax evasion.
He has also been accused of using his father’s political clout and influence to get exclusive rights to drill for oil in Ukraine as well as have a handful of murky deals with China – for which there can now no longer be a case pursued against him as his father’s Presidential pardon gives him immunity for whatever he has done between January 1, 2014, to December 1, 2024.
Hunter Biden’s sentencing in court to serve time in prison was scheduled for separate hearings starting December 12, 2024. But his father, President of the United States, went back on his word of “not interfering” in the case by extending the Presidential pardon.
On six occasions over the last year, Joe Biden had assured the US citizens of an “impartial” functioning of the US Department of Justice, but his move today is seen as a clear U-turn from his earlier resolve.
President-elect Donald Trump tore into Joe Biden’s move of using the Presidential office to benefit family by calling it a “miscarriage of justice”.
Hunter Biden is now a free man with a “full and unconditional” pardon for any action between 2014 and 2024. He cannot face action in future as well on his actions over the last 10 years – the time in which his father was the Vice President and then President of the US.
US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WEAPONISED FOR FOREIGN POLICY?
The US Department of Justice faces criticism about being weaponised against political opponents in the US and also misused for foreign policy that benefitted those in power. Geopolitical experts and former diplomats have highlighted how Hunter Biden used his father’s political clout to gain in Ukraine and China and how the US foreign policy was reportedly moulded by the Biden Administration to suit such personal gains.
President Joe Biden grants ‘unconditional’ pardon to son Hunter Biden in federal convictions; Experts Question Outgoing administration’s credibility point to DoJ’s Vindictive Action against Adanis.
On the panel: @Chellaney and former diplomat Yogesh Gupta with NDTV’s… pic.twitter.com/v7k9jGlmOQ
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 2, 2024
Joe Biden’s move has also raised serious questions over the US Department of Justice’s action against the Adani Group. There is a wider feeling among diplomats that the Adani indictment by the US Department of Justice is also politically driven by the outgoing Biden administration.
While US President’s son Hunter Biden was found guilty and convicted of his charges, there has not been a shred of evidence against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and senior executive Vneet Jaain who have been accused by the DoJ and SEC, suspected of acting on the orders of the Biden administration.
The DOJ and the SEC had filed an indictment and a civil complaint in the New York District Court against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain, key executives of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL). The Adani Group had rejected the allegations, terming it totally “baseless”, and said it would seek legal recourse to defend itself.
Finding itself on the back-foot due to the lack of any evidence, the US Department of Justice in a recent public statement in the Adani case said “The defendants are always innocent unless and until proven guilty.”
Joe Biden’s move today has sparked off a fierce debate in the United States’s power corridors on whether the Department of Justice is indeed “controlled” by political powerhouses.
WHAT NEW FBI DIRECTOR ‘KASH’ PATEL SAID
Kashyap Patel, lawyer, investigator and a stern critic of the US deep state, has spoken out openly about “partisan” and “motivated” practices and also called for a drastic overhaul of the US law enforcement and Intelligence agencies.
“All people in the Department of Justice are just looking for their next promotion,” said Mr Patel, who has been named as the next FBI Director by Donald Trump.
Many believe that these “baseless” allegations and “motivated and partisan” foreign policy of the Biden administration will be rectified by the incoming Trump administration. Donald Trump has already announced a complete overhaul of the US foreign policy, including how NATO functions. His administration’s DOGE, a department headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy is looking to clean up the bureaucracy, while ‘Kash’ Patel looks to “clean up” the investigating agencies to rid them of working for “political powerhouses”.