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

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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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