The lame duck US President, Joe Biden, has finally pardoned his son Hunter facing criminal charges, including drug abuse and tax evasion cases.
It may be recollected that Dhritarashtra being blind since birth, was replaced by his younger brother,Paandu, to rule the kingdom of Hastinapur, now a part of NCR. His ambitious eldest son, Duryodhana, and his younger brothers tutored by their maternal uncle, Shakuni, were either indulging in luxuries and activities unbecoming of a prince or conspiring against Yudhishthir, the eldest brother of the five sons of the king, Paandu.
Duryodhana was keen that instead of Yudhishthir, he should be the king. For this, he always had been hatching conspiracies, which finally led to the Mahabharata, the epic war fought at the Kurukshetra, a historical place in the present state of Haryana in India.
Similarly, Hunter is known for indulging in vices, including in shady nbusiness deals in Ukraine and China. However, he has never been prosecuted for his activities in China and Ukraine, but he could not escape from the law in other criminal activities. In spite of being the son of President Biden Administration, he was being prosecuted for tax evasion and also obtaining firearms.
He had been scheduled to face sentencing on Dec. 12 for gun charges and Dec. 16 for tax charges, but these final hearings for sending him to jail might never take the place following the presidential pardon.
The sudden decision of Biden to you pardon his son reminds civil society across the continents that the fundamentals of governance, which depend upon fair play and the ethical values, are being violated in the world’s most powerful democracy. Few are ready to go accept Biden’s claim that his son, Hunter, was being selectively targeted; on the other hand hand, it is also being being believed that the decision of the President -elect Donald Trump is to appoint Kas Patel as. the new FBI chief might have panicked the outgoing call president.
On December 3, 2024, the special counsel, David Weiss, who is prosecuting Hunter in the courts of Delaware and California, has contradicted the President under the spell of his fatherly love, perhaps is imitating llegendary king Dhritarashtra, whose blind love for his notorious son had finally scripted the Mahabharata War.
In his statement Biden had stated that he was reversing his previous pledge that not to invoke the Presidential authority for his son, but he had to take this decision because his son, Hunter, was being targeted by those opposed to his Administration. Interestingly, even a few judges, including those appointed by the outgoing president do not endorse his claim. They don’t agree that the ongoing criminal cases against Biden should be closed.
Meanwhile, the ongoing political conflict between Biden and Trump appears to be continuing despite the stunning defeat of the Democratic Party nominee, Kamala Harris, presently Vice President of the USA. Instead of accepting the people’s verdict gracefully, the Biden proxies are continuing to implicate Trump’s trusted men in different cases.
On December four, a federal district court judge, Jacqueline Scott Corley,
delivered a three-page verdict refusing to impose sanctions against Elon Musk for not appearing before the court. In a case against Musk, the Security Exchange Board has asked for imposing sanctions against Musk for not being present before the previous hearing. It, however, was claimed that Musk was present far off on the eastern coast for launching his rocket,Space-X. Since the launch was solely dependent upon the obtaining weather conditions, he could not be present during the hearing before the court.
It appears that the judiciary and even the FBI are reluctant to serve Biden’s political as well as personal interests. It will not be surprising if Biden’s pardon could be diluted during the forthcoming judicial process.
It is yet to be ascertained whether Biden’s agenda of further humouring the military-industrial complex by funding Ukraine with more financial assistance could succeed before he finally demits his office on January 20, 2025.
It, however, cannot be denied that Biden’s last minute activities are being closely watched across the continents.
Gopal Misra has been associated with national and international media. His books on journalism and geo-politics have been well-appreciated. Views are personal.
