There isn’t anything the Left likes more than virtue-signaling. But when they’ve been found out to do the same, they meltdown.
Now Joe Biden just broke his own rules and Democrats are fuming mad.
President Biden’s push for an enforceable ethics code for Supreme Court justices rings hollow when considering his own questionable dealings, particularly with billionaire donor and “friend” Joe Kiani. Critics are quick to point out the glaring hypocrisy as Biden’s cozy relationship with Kiani raises serious concerns about conflicts of interest.
Fresh off his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Biden and his family jetted off to Santa Ynez, California, to enjoy a vacation at Kiani’s luxurious ranch-style estate — free of charge, according to White House officials who downplayed the arrangement by labeling Kiani a “friend.”
But this so-called friendship comes with a hefty price tag, as Kiani has poured nearly $3 million into Biden’s super PAC, foundation, and inaugural committee, according to House Republicans.
The troubling ties don’t end there. In September 2021, Kiani was rewarded with an appointment to Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, giving him direct influence over policies that impact his medical tech company, Masimo. And wouldn’t you know it — since Biden took office, Masimo has raked in nearly $3 million in federal contracts. Coincidence? Republicans don’t seem to think so.
Kiani’s perks didn’t stop with his government appointment. In 2022, Biden gifted him tickets to a state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, offering the billionaire CEO a golden opportunity to mingle with trans-Atlantic business moguls and other global elites.
All this is unfolding while Democrats push to impose an ethics code on Supreme Court justices, a move fueled by the Left’s outrage over Justice Clarence Thomas’s relationship with GOP donor Harlan Crow. The irony here is palpable.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but received the usual silence. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics, responsible for overseeing executive branch ethics, also declined to comment, refusing to “discuss specific individuals or circumstances.”
Michael Chamberlain, director of the conservative nonprofit Protect the Public’s Trust, didn’t hold back, calling out the administration’s glaring contradictions: “The self-proclaimed most ethical and transparent administration in history strikes again.”
“The Biden-Harris EPA is already doling out its Greendoggle billions to organizations with ties to the administration and its political allies. Now, we have this type of arrangement with a donor who has business before the government. Seems to be just how things get done in this administration.”
House Republicans have had enough, too. In April 2022, a group of 12 GOP lawmakers penned a letter to Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, demanding answers about Biden’s relationship with Kiani and expressing concern that “political donations are not unduly influencing the Administration’s management of contracts and loans.”
But Kiani isn’t the only wealthy donor with access to Biden. Last year, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer hosted the Biden family at his Lake Tahoe mansion.
Steyer, conveniently enough, runs a green energy investment fund poised to capitalize on Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. It’s all just business as usual for Biden and his elite circle.
The conservative nonprofit Center for Renewing America filed an ethics complaint with the DOJ in April, urging an investigation into Biden’s “serious ethical lapses” and failure to disclose free vacations that seemingly skirt around the Ethics in Government Act (EIGA). The complaint details at least four questionable vacations taken by Biden and his family, including the Lake Tahoe trip.
Other lavish getaways highlighted in the complaint include a stay at the South Carolina beachfront mansion of Democratic donor Maria Allwin, a visit to private equity founder David Rubenstein’s $39 million Nantucket estate, and a New Year’s escape to Bill and Connie Neville’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It’s no surprise that the Nevilles, who began sharing their mansion with Biden around the time of a 2015 state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping, were also guests at the White House, attending a state dinner with Macron in December 2022 — the same month Biden stayed at their estate.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, nailed it when she said Biden’s latest trip to Kiani’s mansion “reinforces the popular notion that individuals who give large amounts of money to politicians are rewarded with increased access and various perks that are unavailable to others.”
Arnold rightly pointed out, “When, like is the case here, there is an apparent circular beneficial relationship, it is difficult to believe that, at a minimum, there has not been increased access granted.”
In a final blow, Arnold concluded, “As a rule of thumb, our elected officials are encouraged to even avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest, and, in this case, President Biden has certainly fallen short.” The so-called ethical leader of the free world seems to be anything but.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
