Times investigation reveals Biden family enmeshed in D.C. money game Obama denounces

The family of Joe Biden, who will be officially nominated as the vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party's 'reform Washington' ticket with Barack Obama Thursday night, appears to be enmeshed in the same D.C. money game that Obama denounces.

One of the senator's sons -- Hunter, a Washington lobbyist -- and the senator's brother, James --received a $1 million investment in their purchase of a hedge fund company from the senator's largest political donor, an Illinois law firm, SimmonsCooper. The brother and the son subsequently repaid the $1 million to the law firm, which specializes in representing asbestos victims.

At about the same time, the firm also steered dozens of asbestos litigation cases to a Delaware law firm where the senator's other son, Beau, worked before moving on to become elected attorney general of the state of Delaware. Beau Biden is credited with acquiring the Illinois client for his firm whose long time managing partner describes himself as a Biden family friend.

The Democrats' about-to-be vice presidential candidate, who has been a senator in Washington since 1972 when Obama was 11 years old, claims he did not know about any of the sons' or brother's business dealings with the law firm, whose representatives had lobbied his office in the past.

With Biden about to take the podium at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, read The Times' full investigative account by Tom Hamburger and Chuck Neubauer just posted here on this website.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Comments

[Biden & Edwards sleaze]

Biden is even less inspiring than ambulance chasser ex
sen Edwards ,although both suffer from acute verbal diahrea,Biden takes the cake as the most vicious con artist.The dems have done it to themselves as could be
expected and Obama spoiled the only chance he had by not choosing sen. Clinton as his VP.Those democrats
who will point to racism to explain Obama's up coming
defeat at the polls will only further assert the DNC"s
total lack of judgement. Get rid of those rats Soros and
Dean.

[thorninurside]

More Repugnican slime. Looks like the GOP attack dogs, like one-trick ponies, have used up their repertoire, and are now just plain boring. Like McCain's milking of the sympathy factor, his mentors have gone to the well one time too many. Millions of us veterans know and remember the misery we endured in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam but we don't feed it to our kids at every meal. Come on John....get an issue...one that isn't out of Rove's toxic playbook.

[Lance the festering boil]

Obama's suppository(Biden) is one of the most rancid
and hypocrit senators ever to come down the pike. We
need another J>Edgar Hoover to take energetic measures
to stop the influx of all the lice and sleaze bags from
polluting our democratic institutions.

[j.]

Biden voted with the credit card companies to keep people from filing bankruptcy. Not surprising his family is involved in corrupt money.
Obama is a fraud. He has never stated his positions. Instead he parrots Hilary and McCain.
Vote for McCain or write in Hilary's name on the ballot. Don't fall for this "democratic" Bush that the dems have manipulated you into. It is also time for Pelosi and Reid to resign.

[colonel mandrake]

Looks like Biden could have benefitted from one of those late term abortions that he and Borat are so fond...

[VJ Machiavelli]

Yes, Biden the "CHANGE VP" a 35 year Washington insider and he has the family members to prove it.

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps.While the “APPEASEMENT CONVENTION” was
singing “ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE PEACE A CHANCE”
The Terrorists are singing "ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE BOMBS A CHANCE, and the Russian are singing "WE ARE BACK"

[NH]

As a Ph.D. chemist and someone who's followed the asbestos issue for decades, the most important fact to keep in mind is this: For DECADES, the asbestos industry, it's attorneys, and it's Republican Backers, Defenders and Supporters knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that enormous numbers of people were developing fatal asbestos-related disorders through inadvertent contact with their products. I can't possibly imagine that Joe Biden or any other decent human being would require any additional motivation to focus the Law on these Criminals. There is nothing in Joe Biden's background to suggest that he has ever taken money for votes, or done anything to inappropriately enrich himself.

[Trannny]

To those on the liberal left and in the media whom may get holier than thou and wish to cast aspirations upon the pregnant Bristol Palin, they might want to ponder this. Sen. Obama's Mother was married 02/02/1961, Sen. Obama was born on 08/07/1961. (three month pregnant)

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1729524-3,00.

Obama had good reason today in asking people to tread lightly, if the left continues to get nasty, these things have a way of coming full circle to bite one rather forcefully in the derrière.

[Curtis J]

ItWhat has transpired in the last 8 years indicates there is an imbalance which suggests that the American people are benefitting less from lobbying than at any other time in recent memory however the generalization that all lobbying should be done away with is unrealistic too ultraistic. The current state lobbyists have left American in does favor the wealthy yet the fact remains that lobbying will remain a fixture within the American political process, therefore one would have to access the state of the country before engaging in any form of critique of the lobbying as a whole