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| Photo: jim watson/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images |
During five decades in public office, Joe Biden built his political brand on his working-class roots. Over that time, members of his family capitalized on his political success by invoking the Biden name to bolster their business pursuits in deals worth millions of dollars.
A Wall Street Journal examination shows that the practice extended beyond his son Hunter Biden. The president’s younger brothers—James and Francis Biden—sought to profit from their blood connection to the politician, according to interviews and public records.
Certain Biden family members’ yearslong pattern of trading on the powerful name is at the center of an impeachment inquiry by House Republicans that got under way with a committee hearing Thursday.
Lawmakers allege they unfairly profited from the elder Biden’s political clout, and the inquiry will examine whether the president also benefited from or otherwise played a role in the financial endeavors of his kin.
The White House and Democrats have denounced the inquiry as a political stunt aimed at unjustly tarnishing the president. White House spokesman Ian Sams said House Republicans have continually lied about the president, failed to find evidence of what they claim and uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing.
The Journal’s examination of President Biden’s relatives’ dealings didn’t turn up evidence that he benefited from the business enterprises that relied on his name. But on at least a few occasions before his presidency, Joe Biden was more present in his family’s business dealings than he or they have acknowledged.
Family members would take phone calls from Joe Biden during their business meetings and occasionally include him in the conversations, a practice that was interpreted by some who witnessed it as an attempt to show off the connection to power, according to former business associates. The conversations that involved Joe Biden were largely limited to pleasantries, according to those who heard them. White House officials have said that Joe Biden regularly calls members of his family to check in.
There aren’t rules that prevent politically connected families from leaning on their name to advance their careers, and other White House families have been criticized for doing so, most recently during the Trump administration. --->READ MORE HERE
Joe Biden’s youngest brother, Frank, also referred to the president as “the big guy” — and interrupted meetings with business associates to take his calls.
Frank Biden, 69, repeatedly halted meetings with an executive at an Illinois-based industrial manufacturing firm to take calls from “the big guy” while his brother was vice president, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Matthew Brady, who worked at the firm, Federal Signal Corp., from 2006 to 2017 as a vice president and later a president of safety and security, said Frank told him during several meetings: “I’ve got to put you on hold, the big guy is calling me.”
“I thought, ‘OK, great, your brother is the vice president,’” Brady told the Journal of the encounters.
Frank Biden also invoked his brother on the day of his inauguration in an ad run by his Florida-based law firm, Berman Law Group LLP, earning a rebuke from then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“It’s the White House’s policy that the president’s name should not be used in connection with any commercial activities to suggest in any way that could be reasonably understood to imply his endorsement or support,” Psaki said at the time.
Joe Biden, 80, had reportedly warned his youngest brother about invoking the family name for business deals during the 2020 presidential campaign, pulling him aside at one point and saying: “For Christ’s sake, watch yourself.”
The president has repeatedly told reporters that he has had no discussions with his son Hunter about his business affairs, despite growing evidence to the contrary.
Brady and Frank Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment. White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams also did not respond to a request for comment. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories:
+++++Hunter’s boast that he expected all this ‘stuff’ to go away when dad was president was wishful thinking+++++
Comer issues subpoenas for Hunter and James Biden’s bank records amid impeachment inquiry
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