The Issue That Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden Share Regarding Donors
Source: AP Photo/Matt Slocum
So, who gives to Joe Biden’s policy institute? The truth is we don’t know, and we won’t for a while. We may not know at all. The Biden Institute said they’re not disclosing anything when the former vice president assumes the presidency on January 20. This sounds eerily familiar with a certain former first lady and secretary of state who tried to run in 2016. You know that slush fund, I mean the charitable foundation that bears her name. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden share a common issue regarding transparency over their networks (via Free Beacon):
The Biden Institute, a policy research center founded by Joe Biden at the University of Delaware, has no plans to disclose its donors after the president-elect takes office, Politico reported on Monday.
Legal experts and watchdog groups said the lack of transparency could create an ethical dilemma for Biden, particularly if he keeps his name on the institute and it continues to fundraise while he’s in the White House.
"They should at the very least disclose their donors, and I think the Biden family should at the very least take their name off if they’re going to continue to raise money," former George W. Bush administration chief ethics lawyer Richard Painter told Politico.
The Biden Institute, which had many of Biden’s incoming administration staffers on its payroll, is part of a network of foundations and policy centers that he established after his vice presidency.
The institute is currently in the middle of a large fundraising push to raise $20 million that is expected to continue well into Biden’s presidency.
Oh, Richard Painter, the former Bush ethics lawyer and favorite anti-Trump GOP guest on the liberal media circuit, is back. Actually, I think he’s a Democrat now but who are you kidding man? Biden’s won the election. The media throughout 2020 didn’t ask him real questions. When they did, he ignored them. He’s going to drag his feet for as long as possible in the hopes that the media moves on, which they probably will because that’s what they do. They protect Democratic presidencies, especially one as frail as this one.
In 2016, the Clinton Foundation was under immense scrutiny for its position on donor disclosure, but Hillary was still running. She already had the reputation of being secretive, playing politics all the time, and thinking she lived by a separate set of rules. She was unlikable. And as it is with Biden, there are ethical concerns, especially when super-rich folks dump money into your foundation which leads to some event benefitting the parties who offered the cash.
Columbia is a prime example. Hillary was against the Columbia Free Trade Agreement until Frank Giustra of Pacific Rubiales, an oil company, cut some checks to the Clinton Foundation. In fact, it was later discovered that over 1,100 foreign donations. There’s a reason why many saw the foundation as a favor bank for the wealthy and well-connected. Drop some money and call in the favor later. That’s the Clinton way. Will that be the same with Joe Biden? As we saw with Hunter Biden’s emails during the 2020 election, Joe isn’t squeaky clean. He’s involved in the access deals his son makes with government officials. He even appears to have intervened to protect those interests beneficial to only his family at the expense of American foreign policy initiatives. You saw that when he asked for a Ukrainian prosecutor to be fired, withholding aid money unless that occurred. It did. The prosecutor was looking into Burisma, an energy company, on corruption charges. His son Hunter was there making $50,000/month as a board member starting in 2014 but was reportedly there selling access to top Obama officials. With regards to China, that deal was hashed out from the VP’s office. It fell through in 2017, but Tony Bobulinski corroborated the account, turned over all documents and devices relating to that pitch to CEFC China Energy, and was interviewed by the FBI. To no one’s shock, CEFC has ties to the nation’s authoritarian government. Get paid first and then ask questions later appears to be the Biden family ethos. It’s not so different from the Clinton model.
EXCLUSIVE: 'Don't you dare buy into that.' Frank Biden tells how brother Joe refused to let Hunter feel guilty for scandal that might have thwarted White House run, and reveals how president-elect bit off sister's toy Lamb Chop's ear in fit of revenge
- Joe Biden's youngest brother Frank, 67, spoke in a freewheeling interview with TC Scornavacchi on Monday, podcast host of TC After Dark
- The 67-year-old admitted the 'natural instinct is to defend' when the Biden men were facing intense scrutiny in the lead-up to the presidential election
- Trump was calling for Hunter to be investigated for his Ukrainian business dealings
- Jim was facing questions over his work with Hunter on a failed Chinese investment venture
- DailyMail.com revealed Frank hadn't paid a car crash victim's family a dime of the $1 million compensation he owed them
- Frank explained: 'Imagine Jim, Hunter and I, how awful we felt that we're reflecting poorly on Joe. That if something goes wrong here it's our fault'
- 'See that, Joe took us off that guilt train like nobody's business, ''Don't you dare! Don't you dare buy into that'',' Frank added
- The Florida businessman recalled a time from their childhood when Joe was so mad at his sister Valarie, that he bit off the ear of her stuffed animal, Lamb Chop
- Frank also opened up about being a recovering alcoholic, saying Joe and his siblings 'never gave up on me' and 'saved my life'
Joe Biden admonished his son Hunter and brothers Frank and Jim after they feared their scandals could harm the former vice president's shot at the White House, telling them: 'Don't you dare buy into that.'
Biden's youngest brother Frank, 67, spoke in a freewheeling interview to TC Scornavacchi on Monday, podcast host of TC After Dark, a few days before Biden's inauguration on Wednesday.
The 67-year-old admitted the 'natural instinct is to defend' when the Biden men were facing negative press coverage and intense scrutiny in the lead-up to the presidential election.
At the time, Trump was calling for Hunter to be investigated for his Ukrainian business dealings, Jim was facing questions over his work with Hunter on a failed Chinese investment venture and DailyMail.com revealed Frank hadn't paid a car crash victim's family a dime of the $1 million compensation he owed them.
Frank explained: 'Imagine Jim, Hunter and I, how awful we felt that we're reflecting poorly on Joe. That if something goes wrong here it's our fault.
'See that, Joe took us off that guilt train like nobody's business, ''Don't you dare! Don't you dare buy into that.''
Joe Biden admonished his son Hunter and brothers Frank and Jim after they feared their scandals could harm the former vice president's shot at the White House, telling them: 'Don't you dare buy into that'
Biden's youngest brother Frank, 67, spoke in a freewheeling interview to TC Scornavacchi on Monday, podcast host of TC After Dark , a few days before Biden's inauguration on Wednesday
The Florida businessman recalled a time from their childhood when Joe was so mad at his sister Valarie, that he bit off the ear of her stuffed animal, Lamb Chop. Pictured: Joe Biden (second from right) with his mother Jean, and brothers Frank and Jim and sister Valarie
Frank, Joe's youngest brother, spoke candidly throughout the 42-minute interview with Scornavacchi, a producer for radio host and anchor Michael Smerconish's Sirius XM and CNN programs.
The Florida businessman touched on growing up with Joe, recalling a time from their childhood when Joe was so mad at his sister Valarie, that he bit off the ear of her stuffed animal, Lamb Chop (Lamb Chop was a puppet made famous by puppeteer and TV personality Shari Lewis in the '50's).
He said: 'I don't know if Lamb Chop still lives. I do know that Joe bit its ear off when she was about 16 and she never forgave him... he was mad at Valerie and to get at her [he bit the ear off].
'Nobody ever touched Valerie, not even close. The biggest sin for a Biden male would be to touch a woman in any kind of anger. That's the biggest coward in the world.'
He boasted he was the only one who was actually born in Delaware, with the rest of his siblings born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before moving to the state.
Frank also opened up about being a recovering alcoholic, admitting: 'I never say recovered because it's a daily event.'
He continued: 'You know, I was a gutter alcoholic. I was behind the dumpster guy.
'I can't remember – I cannot remember - the last time I took a drink of alcohol in any kind of joyous or social setting sort of way.
'I cannot remember the last time I took a drink of alcohol and did not immediately descend into hell.'
The Florida businessman touched on growing up with Joe, recalling a time from their childhood when Joe was so mad at his sister Valarie (pictured together during the early years of Joe's political career), that he bit off the ear of her stuffed animal, Lamb Chop
Actress and ventriloquist Shari Lewis with her creation of sock puppet Lamb Chop
He added that at one point 'things were really horrific for me' and he 'didn't want to live because I couldn't stop drinking. I tried and tried and tried and tried and failed more times than I can count.'
But, he said his 'brothers and my sister never gave up on me. Never ever. They saved my life. They saved my life.'
Biden's youngest brother Frank, 67, spoke in a freewheeling interview to TC Scornavacchi (above), podcast host of TC After Dark
Frank also drew parallels between his battle with alcoholism and Joe's son Hunter's struggles, blasting the 'daily attacks at the most beautiful boy in the world'.
He said: 'Hunt got the disease too. Hunt was sober for a long time. He got sober young. But after Beau died, things became very difficult for all of us.
'Hunt succumbed once again, because this is an insidious disease. It's like a gorilla that's doing push ups in the parking lot waiting for you to come outside.
'It never sleeps, it's always there, it never goes away and it's just lying in wait for that opportunity.
'Hunt had some difficulties and thank god he's sober now and he's a beacon to many.'
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