motherjones--2020-02-14--The Benefits of Being Joe Biden’s Brother

This story was originally published by ProPublica , a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power .
Sign up for ProPublica ’ s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published .
Jim Biden was in a bind .
An investor had put up $ 1 million to help Jim and his nephew Hunter buy a hedge fund .
Then it turned out that the fund ’ s assets were worth less than the Bidens had thought .
Now the investor wanted its money back .
It was December 2006 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ older brother and Hunter ’ s father , Joe Biden , then a Delaware senator , would announce his second campaign for president .
Jim and Hunter Biden got a loan from a bank founded by one of Joe ’ s political backers—William Oldaker , an attorney for the senator ’ s presidential campaign and Hunter ’ s partner at a Washington law and lobbying firm .
Oldaker had strong ties to Joe Biden ’ s political operation , and at the time , the bank , WashingtonFirst , had nearly half a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden political committee Oldaker had helped set up .
But WashingtonFirst was less than three years old , and a $ 1 million loan was large for its size .
The bank required that loans be well secured by borrowers ’ assets .
Jim Biden put up his house in Merion Station , Pennsylvania , as collateral , but he already had $ 1.5 million in three mortgages against the property , then roughly valued at just over $ 1.1 million .
Hunter offered as security his recently purchased Washington home , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purchase price .
Oldaker did not return phone calls , and a source close to Jim and Sara Biden said all of their loans were properly secured .
It was not the first time—or the last—during his long career that Jim Biden turned to Joe ’ s political network for the kind of assistance that would have been almost unimaginable for someone with a different last name .
Campaign donors helped him face a series of financial problems , including a series of IRS liens totaling more than $ 1 million that made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jim Biden took out two more loans from WashingtonFirst before its sale in 2018 .
These transactions illuminate the well-synchronized tango that the Biden brothers have danced for half a century .
They have pursued overlapping careers—one a presidential aspirant with an expansive network of well-heeled Democratic donors ; the other an entrepreneur who helped his brother raise political money and cultivated the same network to help finance his own business deals .
Jim Biden , 70 , has cycled over the years from nightclub owner to insurance broker to political consultant and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive .
But the through-line of his resume was his bond with his brother , a Democratic Party stalwart in a position to push legislation or make government contracts happen .
“ My sense is that Jim really has been trying to peddle himself on the Biden name for some time , ” said Curtis Wilkie , who covered the Bidens as a Delaware political reporter .
Spokespeople for Jim Biden and Joe ’ s presidential campaign declined interview requests for the brothers .
In response to questions , campaign spokesman Andrew Bates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Jim Biden ’ s loans and did not arrange for supporters to help his brother .
Bates also said that the former vice president knew “ nothing ” about his brother ’ s investments and was unaware that Jim had often been delinquent on his federal taxes or that the IRS had placed liens on his home .
Bates said Oldaker is not involved in the 2020 campaign .
“ The vice president and his brother have always understood and agreed that James ’ business ventures are separate from and independent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life , ” Bates said .
A source with knowledge of Jim Biden ’ s finances said that he and his wife , Sara , have sometimes failed to pay their taxes on time because “ they are largely self-employed and sometimes have an unclear picture of how their year will end financially , ” but that they have always paid in full , including interest and penalties .
Recognizing a potential minefield , Joe has avoided responsibility for or financial involvement in his brother ’ s ventures , according to longtime advisers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pursued opportunities , Joe met with his potential clients or partners , at Jim ’ s request .
In 2002 , Joe addressed a Washington conference of the National Association of State Treasurers , whom Jim was courting on behalf of lawyers who wanted to represent state pension funds .
“ Jim offered that his brother , ” who usually took the train home to Delaware in the evening , “ was just happening to be in town , ” said Pamela Taylor , then the group ’ s executive director .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to spend the night in D.C. Would you like him ?
’ ” Taylor reached out to Joe , who had previously been invited by Delaware ’ s state treasurer but hadn ’ t firmly committed .
Joe spoke to the group over breakfast , analyzing the prospects for war in Iraq .
“ It was perfect , ” Taylor recalled .
Jim Biden has been at his older brother ’ s side at nearly every critical juncture in Joe ’ s personal and political life .
As fundraiser for his brother @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he helped launch Joe ’ s political career .
That same year , Jim broke the news to Joe that his wife , Neilia , and baby had died in a car accident , and he then watched over his brother day and night .
When Joe was hospitalized with a brain aneurysm more than 15 years later , it was Jim who “ was working the phone , ” looking worldwide for the best neurosurgeon , according to Richard Ben Cramer ’ s book , “ What It Takes , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1988 .
But Jim has also been a political vulnerability .
While a plagiarism scandal put pressure on Joe to drop out of the presidential race in 1987 , protecting his brother from reporters asking about Jim ’ s shaky finances was the final impetus for Joe ’ s withdrawal , according to Cramer .
“ They were going after Jimmy ; it wasn ’ t just Joe anymore , ” Cramer wrote .
In the 2020 campaign , Joe ’ s family ties have again dogged him .
President Donald Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sought to damage Joe , a potential reelection opponent , by pushing Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden ’ s relationship with a Ukrainian energy company , Burisma .
Joe promised to establish clear boundaries for family business ventures .
Those close to Joe Biden say his relationship with Jim illustrates his fierce family loyalty .
In the 2020 race , one adviser said , Jim “ is trying very hard to stay out of the limelight.
” “ For all his—let me find a kind word for it—entrepreneurship , Jimmy understands that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe ’ s career .
Whether his relationships with unions , treasurers , law firms are the result of people who want to be nice to Jimmy because he ’ s Joe ’ s brother , that ’ s a thankless position to be in , ” the adviser said .
In his 2007 autobiography , “ Promises to Keep , ” Joe gave a sense of Jim ’ s priorities .
In the 1972 Senate campaign , Joe wrote , he changed his position on a capital gains tax reduction that would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his chief fundraiser , stewed for hours and then warned him , “ I sure in hell hope you feel that strongly about capital gains because you just lost the election.
” ( Joe Biden won the race . )
It wasn ’ t their only clash .
During Joe ’ s abortive presidential campaign in 2007 , a Biden aide said , Jim “ raised almost no money .
He came in at the end when we were the most desperate.
” Asked why , the insider said , “ Family tensions.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ there were always questions around Jimmy ’ s business dealings—what kind of blowback would there be for the campaign ?
” Their upbringing shaped the brothers differently .
Their father , Joseph R. Biden Sr. , known as Big Joe , was a Wilmington car salesman .
Joe later wrote that “ money was so tight … I had to put cardboard in an old shoe until Dad ’ s next payday.
” Hard times kept the family close .
“ We could fight among ourselves inside the house , but we were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against a sibling on the outside , ” Joe continued .
One family friend said the Bidens ’ struggles “ rubbed off on how each of the boys were wired .
With Joe it translated into , ‘ I want respect.
’ With Jimmy it translated into , ‘ I want money.
’ ” Joe won a scholarship to the elite Archmere Academy and became a football star and class president .
In 1962 , he was a pool lifeguard in a predominantly African American Wilmington neighborhood , an experience he credits with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse University Law School .
Jim , six and a half years younger , went to local public schools .
He was “ aloof and had , perhaps , a bit of an attitude , ” said classmate Steven Bennett .
“ Good luck in Senior High , ” Jim wrote in Bennett ’ s junior high yearbook .
“ You ’ ll need it.
” Jim studied at the University of Delaware over four semesters but did not earn a degree there , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the nightclub business soon after Joe ’ s first Senate victory .
With funding from Wilmington ’ s Farmers Bank , Jim and four partners operated a restaurant-lounge , Seasons Change .
Its formula of dance music and Top 40 hits caught on , and when a larger space became available , Jim opened another club called The Other Side .
“ They had a helluva run for a couple of years , ” recalled Bob Bowersox , a band booker for both clubs who now runs a theater company in Key @ @ @ @ @ @ @ net worth of about $ 10,000 , but he and a partner were able to borrow $ 300,000 from First Pennsylvania Bank of Philadelphia for the expansion .
His brother then sat on the Senate Banking Committee .
The Other Side made a splash , but not a profit .
“ I was a naive kid is what it was , ” Jim told the Sunday News Journal in Wilmington in 1977 .
Seasons Change folded in 1978 with more than half a million dollars in debts .
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loans , sued Jim and his partners in 1980 for more than $ 168,000 .
( ProPublica could find no record of the lawsuit ’ s resolution . )
By then , Jim had left the nightclub business , and Wilmington , for California .
“ I remember as a banker thinking , ‘ Thank God , I didn ’ t finance it , ’ ” said Fred Sears , a retired Wilmington banker and Biden family friend .
“ I remember thinking , ‘ Oh my God , is this going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Three former Farmers Bank officers told the Wilmington Morning News in 1977 that they had financed Seasons Change because they believed the Biden name “ would help attract a trendy free-spending crowd.
” And Joe Biden had called Farmers chairman to complain about a bank vice president threatening Jim , telling him that failure to pay would embarrass Joe .
“ They were trying to use me as a bludgeon , ” Joe told the newspaper .
William Oldaker was not the only Joe Biden ally to boost Jim ’ s career or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Jim worked for a consulting and actuarial firm for employee pension plans headed by Joel Boyarsky , national finance chairman for Joe ’ s unsuccessful 1987 presidential bid .
He and Jim did fundraising together for Joe .
As a Biden , Jim “ gave me credibility , ” said Boyarsky , now 81 .
Boyarsky not only taught Jim about pensions but also helped him financially when Jim and Sara , a former Government Printing Office general counsel , bought a $ 650,000 villa outside Philadelphia .
The sellers gave them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1997 purchase date , Boyarsky also loaned them as much as $ 200,000 , records show .
Boyarsky said he may have made the loan but doesn ’ t remember it .
The next year , the IRS filed its first lien against Jim ’ s home to recover about $ 145,000 for two years of his overdue federal taxes .
The Bidens finished repaying Boyarsky in 2000 .
They borrowed more than $ 350,000 that year from Leonard Barrack , a Philadelphia lawyer and former DNC finance chairman .
Joe Biden , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barrack , a campaign donor , to his honorary council of advisers .
A few months after the Barrack loan , Jim paid off the IRS .
Jim and Sara Biden ’ s relationship with Barrack soon soured .
Barrack ’ s law firm sued the couple in 2004 , alleging that it had hired Sara at Jim Biden ’ s request to court local government and pension fund clients .
Jim Biden would also help generate business “ through his family name and his resemblance to his brother , United States Senator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complaint said .
Instead , the firm alleged , Jim and Sara had used law firm resources to fuel their consulting company , the Lion Hall Group .
The law firm said that it had paid Sara nearly $ 250,000 , plus salary , for the couple to travel to Alaska , Hawaii , France , and Italy .
Jim and Sara countersued and the parties reached a settlement in 2004 , although its terms are unclear .
Barrack did not respond to requests for comment .
The loan from Barrack was satisfied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A few months later , the couple borrowed $ 400,000 from businessman Thomas Knox , a Joe Biden donor and fundraiser who ran unsuccessfully for Philadelphia mayor in 2007 .
Jim Biden , a donor to Knox ’ s campaign , finished paying the loan in 2013 .
Jim “ has been a friend of mine for a while , ” Knox said , adding that he may have met Joe through Jim .
“ There is nothing nefarious here.
” Roy Pinto was among those who discovered that Jim ’ s business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , were a family affair .
In 2006 , Pinto became vice chair of Corrections USA , an advocacy group for public prison guards .
One of its members ’ needs , he knew , was better insurance coverage .
They worked dangerous jobs in buildings that were often antiquated and overcrowded .
Disability insurance was limited to job injuries ; if a stress-related condition flared up in retirement , they had to pay out of pocket .
So Pinto solicited bidders to supply comprehensive insurance for his then-8,000 members .
A little-known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expressed interest .
The firm had been established when Edward Caveney , who had negotiated insurance deals for dozens of Massachusetts cities and towns , hooked up with Jim Biden .
They met through Boston connections , including Larry Rasky , a public relations consultant who had been communications director for both of Joe Biden ’ s presidential campaigns .
“ Ed ’ s the guy with the feet on the street , ( Jim ) Biden would provide the name and contacts , ” said one insurance executive who worked with Caveney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strategy was to parlay the Biden name into access to law enforcement unions and organizations that admired Joe ’ s support for police .
At one event , held in a luxury box at Fenway Park during a Boston Red Sox game , Jim courted representatives of police and firefighter organizations , with the help of James Machado , executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association .
Machado said in an interview that he was friendly with Caveney , who had pitched insurance products to law enforcement before .
When Caveney asked for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Machado agreed .
He had only met Jim once , but he ’ d known Joe “ way back when , ” and his police association had honored Joe .
“ We provided an entree into some of the police departments for them to try and go in and pitch that product , ” Machado recalled .
“ I was familiar with the Bidens .
I felt comfortable with the Bidens.
” Caveney also hoped that Jim Biden could help him grow business beyond Massachusetts , where he ’ d been entangled in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pittsfield , Massachusetts , Caveney let what was known as its “ stop loss ” coverage for employees ’ health care lapse—despite taking almost $ 300,000 in city money to pay for it .
As a result , the city was exposed to $ 628,000 in claims .
It was a “ deep , deep shock , ” said its treasurer , David Kiley .
In the ensuing furor , Kiley was forced to resign , the mayor decided not to seek reelection and the Massachusetts attorney general launched an investigation into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the $ 628,000 and half of his fee and was not criminally charged .
Pinto , the Corrections USA vice chair , was unaware of this incident .
He was a registered Republican , but he admired Joe Biden ’ s criminal justice record .
In meetings with Corrections USA executives , Jim and his partner offered an attractive package and emphasized their Washington clout .
Jim “ makes sure he tells you his brother is Joe Biden , ” Pinto said .
“ ‘ We ’ re brothers , we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Pinto recalled , was an all-out Biden blitz .
In the morning , he and other Corrections USA executives took Amtrak from Philadelphia to Washington for meetings .
When Jim boarded in Delaware , he “ brought Joe back to say hello , ” Pinto recalled .
On Capitol Hill , Pinto ’ s group met with the senator , who chaired the Judiciary Committee ’ s subcommittee on crime and drugs .
Pinto had his photo taken with Joe , and a Biden aide discussed the group ’ s priorities .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ dined with Hunter Biden , then a lobbyist with Oldaker in Washington .
Then the deal fell apart .
Pinto and another association executive said the group balked at Jim ’ s demand for an unusual arrangement to pay Biden & Caveney ’ s fees .
They had assumed that Corrections USA would pay the fees out of member dues .
But Jim insisted that the guards pay all dues—roughly $ 750,000 a year , deducted automatically from their paychecks—to Biden & Caveney .
It would keep its fees of about $ 120,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Spokespeople for Jim Biden and the Biden campaign disputed Pinto ’ s account of the breakup but did not explain why .
After registering as an insurance agent in at least 10 states , Biden & Caveney dissolved in 2011 , records show .
Dennis DiMarzio , formerly an insurance executive and Boston ’ s chief operating officer , who helped Biden & Caveney land government contracts , said that Caveney ended the partnership .
“ In spite of the name Biden , I don ’ t think Jimmy was successful in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because the name carries a lot of weight , ” he said .
Both ex-partners stayed in the benefits business .
Caveney established an employee benefits firm in Puerto Rico .
Approached at his Massachusetts home , Caveney declined comment .
Later , he did not return phone messages .
Jim Biden and his wife are principals of BBS Benefits Solutions in Connecticut , which caters to large employers and labor unions .
Its motto : “ When families feel secure about their future , they can have peace of mind for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pittsfield before he hooked up with Jim Biden .
Some of Jim ’ s other associates encountered legal trouble after he worked with them—or while they were discussing potential partnerships .
In August 2007 , Jim accompanied Joe to Oxford , Mississippi .
The senator was running for president , and his supporters were holding a fundraiser for him at the Oxford University Club .
Among the hosts was plaintiff ’ s attorney Dickie Scruggs , dubbed “ America ’ s most powerful trial lawyer ” in a book by Wilkie , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Unbeknownst to Joe , Scruggs was then under federal investigation for bribing a local judge .
The brother-in-law of former Republican Senate majority leader Trent Lott , Scruggs had gained fame—and nearly a billion dollars—by brokering a landmark 1998 settlement with four major tobacco companies , which paid more than $ 200 billion to 46 states to resolve tobacco-related health care claims .
That deal had come after the companies and state attorneys general first sought to wrap the state cases in a single federal settlement requiring the companies to pay more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill reached the Senate , Scruggs retained Jim and Sara Biden ’ s Lion Hall Group to lobby for its passage .
In a lawsuit deposition , Scruggs vaguely explained Jim and Sara Biden ’ s role .
“ I ’ m not sure they ’ re lobbyists , but they are a firm that ’ s headed up by … the person I deal with in the firm , I don ’ t know who heads it up , is a gentleman named James or Jim Biden , B-I-D-E-N , who ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he said .
“ And he gave us a great deal of advice about what was going on on Capitol Hill during the tobacco legislative effort.
” The bill , which Joe Biden supported , died in the Senate .
Scruggs then crafted the settlement with the states , which did not require congressional approval .
Nine years later , when Jim came to Oxford , his old tobacco connections offered a new business opportunity .
Among the other fundraiser hosts were Scruggs associates Steve Patterson and Timothy Balducci .
Patterson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1996 and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false affidavit to keep from paying county taxes .
A former aide to Mississippi Sen. John C. Stennis , Patterson had raised money for Joe Biden ’ s 1987 presidential bid .
At the time of the fundraiser , Patterson and Balducci , a lawyer , were looking for a Washington presence for a practice they were setting up in New Albany , Mississippi .
They added Sara Biden to the venture , to be called Patterson Balducci & Biden .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation caught Balducci on wiretaps arranging a $ 40,000 bribe for a local judge .
Balducci pleaded guilty and turned over details of the scheme that drew in Patterson , Scruggs and others .
All pleaded guilty .
One of Scruggs ’ lawyers early in the case was Joey Langston , who would soon plead guilty in another Scruggs-related judicial bribery case .
Langston had hosted fundraisers for Joe Biden and solicited the senator ’ s legislative help .
Despite Langston ’ s guilty plea and subsequent disbarment , he and Jim Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up as managers in Earthcare Trina International , a marketing firm affiliated with a Sacramento , California , health care company called Trina Healthcare .
“ Biden was going to have a big bite of the apple , ” said Shad Ellison , a corporate dealmaker who was asked to help raise money to open medical clinics that would administer Trina ’ s new diabetes treatment .
Trina ’ s “ artificial pancreas treatment ” was controversial .
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had stopped paying for the procedure in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t improve health outcomes .
The American Diabetes Association agreed .
Nevertheless , Trina ’ s founder , lawyer G. Ford Gilbert , tried to push a bill through the Alabama Legislature requiring private insurers to cover the treatment .
He pleaded guilty in January 2019 to federal bribery charges and was sentenced to six months in prison .
Langston did not respond to a request for comment .
A spokesman for Jim Biden did not respond to emailed questions about Trina .
In December 2013 , Jim and Sara Biden invested @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home on Keewaydin Island near Naples , Florida .
The six-bedroom house can only be reached by boat , and Joe Biden vacationed there when he was vice president .
While Jim and Sara Biden racked up renovation debts , the IRS slapped them with another $ 589,000 lien for unpaid 2013 federal taxes .
The financial obligations led them to another Joe Biden supporter .
In May 2015 , as first reported by Politico , they got a $ 500,000 mortgage loan from a corporation recently set up by auto dealer John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time already had a mortgage on Jim and Sara Biden ’ s Pennsylvania house , records show .
Hynansky did not return phone calls .
The Bidens paid the back taxes and then unloaded the Florida house for $ 1.35 million in 2018 .
Hynansky ’ s company released its mortgages on both properties .
One of Jim ’ s old patrons came to his aid as well .
Oldaker—whose WashingtonFirst Bank loaned Jim and Hunter $ 1 million in 2006—is now a founder and director at a new bank , Trustar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ got a $ 250,000 loan from Trustar last December , records show .
He secured it with another mortgage on his Pennsylvania house , which is now on the market for just under $ 2 million .

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
This story was originally published by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.
Jim Biden was in a bind. An investor had put up $1 million to help Jim and his nephew Hunter buy a hedge fund. Then it turned out that the fund’s assets were worth less than the Bidens had thought. Now the investor wanted its money back.
It was December 2006, not long before Jim’s older brother and Hunter’s father, Joe Biden, then a Delaware senator, would announce his second campaign for president.
Jim and Hunter Biden got a loan from a bank founded by one of Joe’s political backers—William Oldaker, an attorney for the senator’s presidential campaign and Hunter’s partner at a Washington law and lobbying firm.
Oldaker had strong ties to Joe Biden’s political operation, and at the time, the bank, WashingtonFirst, had nearly half a million dollars in deposits from a Joe Biden political committee Oldaker had helped set up.
But WashingtonFirst was less than three years old, and a $1 million loan was large for its size. The bank required that loans be well secured by borrowers’ assets. Jim Biden put up his house in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, as collateral, but he already had $1.5 million in three mortgages against the property, then roughly valued at just over $1.1 million. Hunter offered as security his recently purchased Washington home, for which he had borrowed almost the entire purchase price. Oldaker did not return phone calls, and a source close to Jim and Sara Biden said all of their loans were properly secured.
It was not the first time—or the last—during his long career that Jim Biden turned to Joe’s political network for the kind of assistance that would have been almost unimaginable for someone with a different last name. Campaign donors helped him face a series of financial problems, including a series of IRS liens totaling more than $1 million that made it harder to get bank financing. Jim Biden took out two more loans from WashingtonFirst before its sale in 2018.
These transactions illuminate the well-synchronized tango that the Biden brothers have danced for half a century. They have pursued overlapping careers—one a presidential aspirant with an expansive network of well-heeled Democratic donors; the other an entrepreneur who helped his brother raise political money and cultivated the same network to help finance his own business deals.
Jim Biden, 70, has cycled over the years from nightclub owner to insurance broker to political consultant and fundraiser to startup investor and construction company executive. But the through-line of his resume was his bond with his brother, a Democratic Party stalwart in a position to push legislation or make government contracts happen.
“My sense is that Jim really has been trying to peddle himself on the Biden name for some time,” said Curtis Wilkie, who covered the Bidens as a Delaware political reporter.
Spokespeople for Jim Biden and Joe’s presidential campaign declined interview requests for the brothers. In response to questions, campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said that Joe Biden had no involvement in Jim Biden’s loans and did not arrange for supporters to help his brother. Bates also said that the former vice president knew “nothing” about his brother’s investments and was unaware that Jim had often been delinquent on his federal taxes or that the IRS had placed liens on his home. Bates said Oldaker is not involved in the 2020 campaign.
“The vice president and his brother have always understood and agreed that James’ business ventures are separate from and independent of Joe Biden’s career in public life,” Bates said.
A source with knowledge of Jim Biden’s finances said that he and his wife, Sara, have sometimes failed to pay their taxes on time because “they are largely self-employed and sometimes have an unclear picture of how their year will end financially,” but that they have always paid in full, including interest and penalties.
Recognizing a potential minefield, Joe has avoided responsibility for or financial involvement in his brother’s ventures, according to longtime advisers. Yet on occasion, as Jim pursued opportunities, Joe met with his potential clients or partners, at Jim’s request.
In 2002, Joe addressed a Washington conference of the National Association of State Treasurers, whom Jim was courting on behalf of lawyers who wanted to represent state pension funds. “Jim offered that his brother,” who usually took the train home to Delaware in the evening, “was just happening to be in town,” said Pamela Taylor, then the group’s executive director. “He said: ‘He’s going to spend the night in D.C. Would you like him?’”
Taylor reached out to Joe, who had previously been invited by Delaware’s state treasurer but hadn’t firmly committed. Joe spoke to the group over breakfast, analyzing the prospects for war in Iraq. “It was perfect,” Taylor recalled.
Jim Biden has been at his older brother’s side at nearly every critical juncture in Joe’s personal and political life. As fundraiser for his brother’s first Senate race in 1972, he helped launch Joe’s political career.
That same year, Jim broke the news to Joe that his wife, Neilia, and baby had died in a car accident, and he then watched over his brother day and night. When Joe was hospitalized with a brain aneurysm more than 15 years later, it was Jim who “was working the phone,” looking worldwide for the best neurosurgeon, according to Richard Ben Cramer’s book, “What It Takes,” which profiled the candidates for president in 1988.
But Jim has also been a political vulnerability. While a plagiarism scandal put pressure on Joe to drop out of the presidential race in 1987, protecting his brother from reporters asking about Jim’s shaky finances was the final impetus for Joe’s withdrawal, according to Cramer. “They were going after Jimmy; it wasn’t just Joe anymore,” Cramer wrote.
In the 2020 campaign, Joe’s family ties have again dogged him. President Donald Trump’s impeachment stemmed from allegations that he sought to damage Joe, a potential reelection opponent, by pushing Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden’s relationship with a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma. Joe promised to establish clear boundaries for family business ventures.
Those close to Joe Biden say his relationship with Jim illustrates his fierce family loyalty. In the 2020 race, one adviser said, Jim “is trying very hard to stay out of the limelight.”
“For all his—let me find a kind word for it—entrepreneurship, Jimmy understands that he needs to keep his business separate from Joe’s career. Whether his relationships with unions, treasurers, law firms are the result of people who want to be nice to Jimmy because he’s Joe’s brother, that’s a thankless position to be in,” the adviser said.
In his 2007 autobiography, “Promises to Keep,” Joe gave a sense of Jim’s priorities. In the 1972 Senate campaign, Joe wrote, he changed his position on a capital gains tax reduction that would benefit potential big donors. Jim, his chief fundraiser, stewed for hours and then warned him, “I sure in hell hope you feel that strongly about capital gains because you just lost the election.” (Joe Biden won the race.)
It wasn’t their only clash. During Joe’s abortive presidential campaign in 2007, a Biden aide said, Jim “raised almost no money. He came in at the end when we were the most desperate.” Asked why, the insider said, “Family tensions.” At the same time, “there were always questions around Jimmy’s business dealings—what kind of blowback would there be for the campaign?”
Their upbringing shaped the brothers differently. Their father, Joseph R. Biden Sr., known as Big Joe, was a Wilmington car salesman. Joe later wrote that “money was so tight … I had to put cardboard in an old shoe until Dad’s next payday.”
Hard times kept the family close. “We could fight among ourselves inside the house, but we were not allowed to say a single syllable against a sibling on the outside,” Joe continued. One family friend said the Bidens’ struggles “rubbed off on how each of the boys were wired. With Joe it translated into, ‘I want respect.’ With Jimmy it translated into, ‘I want money.’”
Joe won a scholarship to the elite Archmere Academy and became a football star and class president. In 1962, he was a pool lifeguard in a predominantly African American Wilmington neighborhood, an experience he credits with helping him to understand race relations. He graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse University Law School.
Jim, six and a half years younger, went to local public schools. He was “aloof and had, perhaps, a bit of an attitude,” said classmate Steven Bennett. “Good luck in Senior High,” Jim wrote in Bennett’s junior high yearbook. “You’ll need it.” Jim studied at the University of Delaware over four semesters but did not earn a degree there, according to a university spokesperson.
Jim went into the nightclub business soon after Joe’s first Senate victory. With funding from Wilmington’s Farmers Bank, Jim and four partners operated a restaurant-lounge, Seasons Change. Its formula of dance music and Top 40 hits caught on, and when a larger space became available, Jim opened another club called The Other Side.
“They had a helluva run for a couple of years,” recalled Bob Bowersox, a band booker for both clubs who now runs a theater company in Key West, Florida.
Jim reported a net worth of about $10,000, but he and a partner were able to borrow $300,000 from First Pennsylvania Bank of Philadelphia for the expansion. His brother then sat on the Senate Banking Committee.
The Other Side made a splash, but not a profit. “I was a naive kid is what it was,” Jim told the Sunday News Journal in Wilmington in 1977.
Seasons Change folded in 1978 with more than half a million dollars in debts. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which had assumed the Farmers Bank loans, sued Jim and his partners in 1980 for more than $168,000. (ProPublica could find no record of the lawsuit’s resolution.) By then, Jim had left the nightclub business, and Wilmington, for California.
“I remember as a banker thinking, ‘Thank God, I didn’t finance it,’” said Fred Sears, a retired Wilmington banker and Biden family friend. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, is this going to spill over to Joe?’”
Three former Farmers Bank officers told the Wilmington Morning News in 1977 that they had financed Seasons Change because they believed the Biden name “would help attract a trendy free-spending crowd.”
And Joe Biden had called Farmers chairman to complain about a bank vice president threatening Jim, telling him that failure to pay would embarrass Joe. “They were trying to use me as a bludgeon,” Joe told the newspaper.
William Oldaker was not the only Joe Biden ally to boost Jim’s career or lend him money.
In the mid-1980s, Jim worked for a consulting and actuarial firm for employee pension plans headed by Joel Boyarsky, national finance chairman for Joe’s unsuccessful 1987 presidential bid. He and Jim did fundraising together for Joe.
As a Biden, Jim “gave me credibility,” said Boyarsky, now 81.
Boyarsky not only taught Jim about pensions but also helped him financially when Jim and Sara, a former Government Printing Office general counsel, bought a $650,000 villa outside Philadelphia.
The sellers gave them a full mortgage. And on the 1997 purchase date, Boyarsky also loaned them as much as $200,000, records show. Boyarsky said he may have made the loan but doesn’t remember it.
The next year, the IRS filed its first lien against Jim’s home to recover about $145,000 for two years of his overdue federal taxes.
The Bidens finished repaying Boyarsky in 2000. They borrowed more than $350,000 that year from Leonard Barrack, a Philadelphia lawyer and former DNC finance chairman. Joe Biden, the Senate Judiciary chairman, had named Barrack, a campaign donor, to his honorary council of advisers. A few months after the Barrack loan, Jim paid off the IRS.
Jim and Sara Biden’s relationship with Barrack soon soured. Barrack’s law firm sued the couple in 2004, alleging that it had hired Sara at Jim Biden’s request to court local government and pension fund clients. Jim Biden would also help generate business “through his family name and his resemblance to his brother, United States Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware,” the complaint said.
Instead, the firm alleged, Jim and Sara had used law firm resources to fuel their consulting company, the Lion Hall Group. The law firm said that it had paid Sara nearly $250,000, plus salary, for the couple to travel to Alaska, Hawaii, France, and Italy.
Jim and Sara countersued and the parties reached a settlement in 2004, although its terms are unclear. Barrack did not respond to requests for comment.
The loan from Barrack was satisfied in May 2004, records show. A few months later, the couple borrowed $400,000 from businessman Thomas Knox, a Joe Biden donor and fundraiser who ran unsuccessfully for Philadelphia mayor in 2007. Jim Biden, a donor to Knox’s campaign, finished paying the loan in 2013.
Jim “has been a friend of mine for a while,” Knox said, adding that he may have met Joe through Jim. “There is nothing nefarious here.”
Roy Pinto was among those who discovered that Jim’s business ventures, like Joe’s campaigns, were a family affair.
In 2006, Pinto became vice chair of Corrections USA, an advocacy group for public prison guards. One of its members’ needs, he knew, was better insurance coverage. They worked dangerous jobs in buildings that were often antiquated and overcrowded. Disability insurance was limited to job injuries; if a stress-related condition flared up in retirement, they had to pay out of pocket.
So Pinto solicited bidders to supply comprehensive insurance for his then-8,000 members. A little-known brokerage, Biden & Caveney LLC, expressed interest. The firm had been established when Edward Caveney, who had negotiated insurance deals for dozens of Massachusetts cities and towns, hooked up with Jim Biden. They met through Boston connections, including Larry Rasky, a public relations consultant who had been communications director for both of Joe Biden’s presidential campaigns.
“Ed’s the guy with the feet on the street, (Jim) Biden would provide the name and contacts,” said one insurance executive who worked with Caveney.
Part of the brokerage’s strategy was to parlay the Biden name into access to law enforcement unions and organizations that admired Joe’s support for police. At one event, held in a luxury box at Fenway Park during a Boston Red Sox game, Jim courted representatives of police and firefighter organizations, with the help of James Machado, executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association.
Machado said in an interview that he was friendly with Caveney, who had pitched insurance products to law enforcement before. When Caveney asked for help and mentioned the Biden connection, Machado agreed. He had only met Jim once, but he’d known Joe “way back when,” and his police association had honored Joe.
“We provided an entree into some of the police departments for them to try and go in and pitch that product,” Machado recalled. “I was familiar with the Bidens. I felt comfortable with the Bidens.”
Caveney also hoped that Jim Biden could help him grow business beyond Massachusetts, where he’d been entangled in a controversy. As insurance broker for Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Caveney let what was known as its “stop loss” coverage for employees’ health care lapse—despite taking almost $300,000 in city money to pay for it.
As a result, the city was exposed to $628,000 in claims. It was a “deep, deep shock,” said its treasurer, David Kiley. In the ensuing furor, Kiley was forced to resign, the mayor decided not to seek reelection and the Massachusetts attorney general launched an investigation into the city’s finances. Caveney reimbursed the $628,000 and half of his fee and was not criminally charged.
Pinto, the Corrections USA vice chair, was unaware of this incident. He was a registered Republican, but he admired Joe Biden’s criminal justice record. In meetings with Corrections USA executives, Jim and his partner offered an attractive package and emphasized their Washington clout. Jim “makes sure he tells you his brother is Joe Biden,” Pinto said. “‘We’re brothers, we’re close.’”
One day in 2007, Pinto recalled, was an all-out Biden blitz. In the morning, he and other Corrections USA executives took Amtrak from Philadelphia to Washington for meetings. When Jim boarded in Delaware, he “brought Joe back to say hello,” Pinto recalled.
On Capitol Hill, Pinto’s group met with the senator, who chaired the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime and drugs. Pinto had his photo taken with Joe, and a Biden aide discussed the group’s priorities. That evening, Pinto said, they dined with Hunter Biden, then a lobbyist with Oldaker in Washington.
Biden & Caveney gave a benefits overview at the group’s annual conference.
Then the deal fell apart. Pinto and another association executive said the group balked at Jim’s demand for an unusual arrangement to pay Biden & Caveney’s fees. They had assumed that Corrections USA would pay the fees out of member dues. But Jim insisted that the guards pay all dues—roughly $750,000 a year, deducted automatically from their paychecks—to Biden & Caveney. It would keep its fees of about $120,000 and disburse the rest to Corrections USA.
Spokespeople for Jim Biden and the Biden campaign disputed Pinto’s account of the breakup but did not explain why.
After registering as an insurance agent in at least 10 states, Biden & Caveney dissolved in 2011, records show. Dennis DiMarzio, formerly an insurance executive and Boston’s chief operating officer, who helped Biden & Caveney land government contracts, said that Caveney ended the partnership.
“In spite of the name Biden, I don’t think Jimmy was successful in bringing in contracts, which is surprising, because the name carries a lot of weight,” he said.
Both ex-partners stayed in the benefits business. Caveney established an employee benefits firm in Puerto Rico. Approached at his Massachusetts home, Caveney declined comment. Later, he did not return phone messages.
Jim Biden and his wife are principals of BBS Benefits Solutions in Connecticut, which caters to large employers and labor unions.
Its motto: “When families feel secure about their future, they can have peace of mind for today.”
Ed Caveney had problems in Pittsfield before he hooked up with Jim Biden. Some of Jim’s other associates encountered legal trouble after he worked with them—or while they were discussing potential partnerships.
In August 2007, Jim accompanied Joe to Oxford, Mississippi. The senator was running for president, and his supporters were holding a fundraiser for him at the Oxford University Club.
Among the hosts was plaintiff’s attorney Dickie Scruggs, dubbed “America’s most powerful trial lawyer” in a book by Wilkie, who teaches journalism at the University of Mississippi. Unbeknownst to Joe, Scruggs was then under federal investigation for bribing a local judge. The brother-in-law of former Republican Senate majority leader Trent Lott, Scruggs had gained fame—and nearly a billion dollars—by brokering a landmark 1998 settlement with four major tobacco companies, which paid more than $200 billion to 46 states to resolve tobacco-related health care claims.
That deal had come after the companies and state attorneys general first sought to wrap the state cases in a single federal settlement requiring the companies to pay more than $360 billion. As the bill reached the Senate, Scruggs retained Jim and Sara Biden’s Lion Hall Group to lobby for its passage.
In a lawsuit deposition, Scruggs vaguely explained Jim and Sara Biden’s role. “I’m not sure they’re lobbyists, but they are a firm that’s headed up by … the person I deal with in the firm, I don’t know who heads it up, is a gentleman named James or Jim Biden, B-I-D-E-N, who’s the brother of Sen. Joseph Biden,” he said. “And he gave us a great deal of advice about what was going on on Capitol Hill during the tobacco legislative effort.”
The bill, which Joe Biden supported, died in the Senate. Scruggs then crafted the settlement with the states, which did not require congressional approval.
Nine years later, when Jim came to Oxford, his old tobacco connections offered a new business opportunity. Among the other fundraiser hosts were Scruggs associates Steve Patterson and Timothy Balducci. Patterson was a former state auditor who resigned in 1996 and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false affidavit to keep from paying county taxes. A former aide to Mississippi Sen. John C. Stennis, Patterson had raised money for Joe Biden’s 1987 presidential bid.
At the time of the fundraiser, Patterson and Balducci, a lawyer, were looking for a Washington presence for a practice they were setting up in New Albany, Mississippi.
They added Sara Biden to the venture, to be called Patterson Balducci & Biden. But it collapsed as a federal bribery investigation caught Balducci on wiretaps arranging a $40,000 bribe for a local judge.
Balducci pleaded guilty and turned over details of the scheme that drew in Patterson, Scruggs and others. All pleaded guilty.
One of Scruggs’ lawyers early in the case was Joey Langston, who would soon plead guilty in another Scruggs-related judicial bribery case. Langston had hosted fundraisers for Joe Biden and solicited the senator’s legislative help.
Despite Langston’s guilty plea and subsequent disbarment, he and Jim Biden eventually became business associates. Both showed up as managers in Earthcare Trina International, a marketing firm affiliated with a Sacramento, California, health care company called Trina Healthcare.
“Biden was going to have a big bite of the apple,” said Shad Ellison, a corporate dealmaker who was asked to help raise money to open medical clinics that would administer Trina’s new diabetes treatment.
Trina’s “artificial pancreas treatment” was controversial. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had stopped paying for the procedure in 2009, citing evidence that it doesn’t improve health outcomes. The American Diabetes Association agreed. Nevertheless, Trina’s founder, lawyer G. Ford Gilbert, tried to push a bill through the Alabama Legislature requiring private insurers to cover the treatment. He pleaded guilty in January 2019 to federal bribery charges and was sentenced to six months in prison.
Langston did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Jim Biden did not respond to emailed questions about Trina.
In December 2013, Jim and Sara Biden invested $2.5 million in a luxury vacation home on Keewaydin Island near Naples, Florida. The six-bedroom house can only be reached by boat, and Joe Biden vacationed there when he was vice president.
While Jim and Sara Biden racked up renovation debts, the IRS slapped them with another $589,000 lien for unpaid 2013 federal taxes.
The financial obligations led them to another Joe Biden supporter. In May 2015, as first reported by Politico, they got a $500,000 mortgage loan from a corporation recently set up by auto dealer John Hynansky. Hynansky’s corporation at the time already had a mortgage on Jim and Sara Biden’s Pennsylvania house, records show. Hynansky did not return phone calls.
The Bidens paid the back taxes and then unloaded the Florida house for $1.35 million in 2018. Hynansky’s company released its mortgages on both properties.
One of Jim’s old patrons came to his aid as well. Oldaker—whose WashingtonFirst Bank loaned Jim and Hunter $1 million in 2006—is now a founder and director at a new bank, Trustar, based in Virginia. Jim Biden got a $250,000 loan from Trustar last December, records show. He secured it with another mortgage on his Pennsylvania house, which is now on the market for just under $2 million.
Kirsten Berg and Doris Burke contributed reporting.


motherjones--2020-02-17--We Talked to the Man Behind That Nigerian Pete Buttigieg Fan Account. It’s Not Lis Smith.

“ It ’ s very stressful .
It ’ s almost midnight here and I ’ ve just been dealing with controversies all day , ” said a man claiming to behind the @ easychinedu account , a pro-Pete Buttigieg account that went viral on Sunday morning after high-profile Twitter users like David Klion alleged that it was burner belonging to Lis Smith , Buttigieg ’ s spokesperson .
“ They thought I was a sock puppet , ” he said .
“ I thought it was funny at first , but now I find the whole ordeal very stressful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inbox was flooded with messages from journalists and others .
The hoopla mostly stemmed from a single tweet : “ Team Pete .
Hey .
It ’ s Lis .
It ’ s Phase 4 .
Time to leave it all on the floor .
Phone bankers we need you , ” which was interpreted as a classic account-juggling mistake made by Smith .
After Klion and others directed attention to the account , it tweeted several denials , and then the user deactivated the account .
Before it went down , Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s tweets defending Buttigieg and Smith .
Smith denied that the account was hers all day Sunday until BuzzFeed reporter Jane Lytvynenko reported that she had communicated with the man behind the account .
Mother Jones also spoke with the person claiming to be behind the account over Facetime .
He asked that his identity and personal details not be shared to avoid being doxxed and further harassment , though he also provided a screenshot of his inbox showing an email from Twitter about his account @ easychinedu , and Mother Jones was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information online .
While it ’ s possible to spoof numbers , the FaceTime call and a separate call on WhatsApp came through a Nigerian international code .
He explained the “ Hey .
It ’ s Liz ” tweet as being a “ joke ” based on campaign emails that mentioned , “ Phase 4 ” in the campaign process where get out the vote operations for Buttigieg start ramping up .
“ I thought it was funny , ” he said .
Twitter sleuths zeroed in on the US style of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affectations like “ y ’ all ” and “ yikes ” in his tweets as evidence that the account belonged to Smith .
( British English is more common in Nigeria . )
The level of scrutiny surprised him .
“ I thought y ’ all was universal , ” he said .
He told Mother Jones that he is a millennial ; he spent several years time in the US and moved back to Nigeria several years ago .
“ I ’ m just a regular guy .
Just like you .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
It ’ s normal for people abroad to closely follow the American political process given how much American politics affect the rest of the world , and the supposed creator of @ EasyChinedu said that was why he cared so much too .
He said that he believes in Buttigieg .
“ I know it sounds strange that some people are involved in US politics .
A lot of people abroad are supporting Pete , ” he said.
” I don ’ t know how to describe it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m a young person , and I saw something in him as another young person .
”

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
“It’s very stressful. It’s almost midnight here and I’ve just been dealing with controversies all day,” said a man claiming to behind the @easychinedu account, a pro-Pete Buttigieg account that went viral on Sunday morning after high-profile Twitter users like David Klion alleged that it was burner belonging to Lis Smith, Buttigieg’s spokesperson.
“They thought I was a sock puppet,” he said. “I thought it was funny at first, but now I find the whole ordeal very stressful,” he explained saying that his inbox was flooded with messages from journalists and others.
The hoopla mostly stemmed from a single tweet: “Team Pete. Hey. It’s Lis. It’s Phase 4. Time to leave it all on the floor. Phone bankers we need you,” which was interpreted as a classic account-juggling mistake made by Smith.
After Klion and others directed attention to the account, it tweeted several denials, and then the user deactivated the account. Before it went down, Twitter users grabbed screenshots of the account’s tweets defending Buttigieg and Smith.
Smith denied that the account was hers all day Sunday until BuzzFeed reporter Jane Lytvynenko reported that she had communicated with the man behind the account. Mother Jones also spoke with the person claiming to be behind the account over Facetime. He asked that his identity and personal details not be shared to avoid being doxxed and further harassment, though he also provided a screenshot of his inbox showing an email from Twitter about his account @easychinedu, and Mother Jones was able to verify his identity through public information online. While it’s possible to spoof numbers, the FaceTime call and a separate call on WhatsApp came through a Nigerian international code.
He explained the “Hey. It’s Lis” tweet as being a “joke” based on campaign emails that mentioned, “Phase 4” in the campaign process where get out the vote operations for Buttigieg start ramping up. “I thought it was funny,” he said.
Twitter sleuths zeroed in on the US style of English and his use of American twitter affectations like “y’all” and “yikes” in his tweets as evidence that the account belonged to Smith. (British English is more common in Nigeria.) The level of scrutiny surprised him. “I thought y’all was universal,” he said. He told Mother Jones that he is a millennial; he spent several years time in the US and moved back to Nigeria several years ago. “I’m just a regular guy. Just like you. It’s all very strange,” he said.
It’s normal for people abroad to closely follow the American political process given how much American politics affect the rest of the world, and the supposed creator of @EasyChinedu said that was why he cared so much too.
He said that he believes in Buttigieg.
“I know it sounds strange that some people are involved in US politics. A lot of people abroad are supporting Pete,” he said.”I don’t know how to describe it. I thought it was exciting. I’m a young person, and I saw something in him as another young person.”


motherjones--2020-02-16--More Than 1,000 Former Justice Department Officials Urge Barr to Step Down

More than 1,100 former Justice Department officials signed a public letter Sunday that recommends Attorney General William P. Barr ’ s resignation from office after he intervened to reduce the Justice Department ’ s sentencing recommendation for President Donald Trump ’ s friend and former campaign associate , Roger Stone .
“ Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice .
In this nation , we are all equal before the law , ” the officials wrote in their letter posted online .
“ A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the President.
” The former officials urged current Justice Department staffers to keep a watchful eye and report unethical behavior in the agency and commended four prosecutors who withdrew from the case when it became apparent Barr would cave to political pressure from the president to lighten Stone ’ s sentence .
The four prosecutors had originally recommended a sentence of seven to nine years for obstructing a congressional inquiry .
The president publicly attacked the proposed sentence and the Justice Department subsequently filed a memo at Barr ’ s request that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintains that he was acting independently of the president , though the signees of the letter expressed skepticism that the White House was not involved .
“ Mr .
Barr ’ s actions in doing the President ’ s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words , ” the Justice Department alumni wrote in their letter .
“ Those actions , and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice ’ s reputation for integrity and the rule of law , require Mr. Barr to resign.
” The letter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ served in both Republican and Democratic administrations , acknowledges that Barr is unlikely to resign .
Still , the Justice Department alums suggest current officials “ report future abuses to the inspector general , the Office of Professional Responsibility , and Congress , ” and “ refuse to carry out directives that are inconsistent with their oaths of office.
” They also encouraged prosecutors to withdraw from cases involving abuses of power .
The signatures were compiled by Protect Democracy , a nonprofit legal group .
The group said that it would continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In a televised interview on Thursday with ABC News , Barr said Trump ’ s public commentary undermines his authority .
“ I can not do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me .
”

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
More than 1,100 former Justice Department officials signed a public letter Sunday that recommends Attorney General William P. Barr’s resignation from office after he intervened to reduce the Justice Department’s sentencing recommendation for President Donald Trump’s friend and former campaign associate, Roger Stone.
“Such behavior is a grave threat to the fair administration of justice. In this nation, we are all equal before the law,” the officials wrote in their letter posted online. “A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the President.”
The former officials urged current Justice Department staffers to keep a watchful eye and report unethical behavior in the agency and commended four prosecutors who withdrew from the case when it became apparent Barr would cave to political pressure from the president to lighten Stone’s sentence.
The four prosecutors had originally recommended a sentence of seven to nine years for obstructing a congressional inquiry. The president publicly attacked the proposed sentence and the Justice Department subsequently filed a memo at Barr’s request that pushed for less jail time.
Barr maintains that he was acting independently of the president, though the signees of the letter expressed skepticism that the White House was not involved.
“Mr. Barr’s actions in doing the President’s personal bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words,” the Justice Department alumni wrote in their letter. “Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice’s reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign.”
The letter, which was signed by former attorneys who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations, acknowledges that Barr is unlikely to resign. Still, the Justice Department alums suggest current officials “report future abuses to the inspector general, the Office of Professional Responsibility, and Congress,” and “refuse to carry out directives that are inconsistent with their oaths of office.”
They also encouraged prosecutors to withdraw from cases involving abuses of power.
The signatures were compiled by Protect Democracy, a nonprofit legal group. The group said that it would continue to update the list with new signatures.
In a televised interview on Thursday with ABC News, Barr said Trump’s public commentary undermines his authority. “I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.”


motherjones--2020-02-15--Report: Barr Protected Turkish Bank From Prosecution to Appease Erdogan

President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Friday to claim he has a “ legal right ” to interfere in Justice Department cases , but insisted that he has “ so far chosen not to.
” Anyone following Trump ’ s social media presence knows that not to be the case .
He regularly tweets about business before the Justice Department and only last week praised Attorney General William Barr for softening the department ’ s sentencing guidance for Roger Stone , a Trump ally who was convicted of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice last year .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example of Barr running interference for Trump at DOJ , reporting that he “ personally spearheaded ” an effort last year to save Halkbank , a state-owned Turkish bank , from being indicted after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “ pressed Trump in a bid to avoid charges.
” Erdogan ’ s personal involvement complemented a months-long lobbying campaign by Turkey to avoid prosecution .
As my colleague Dan Friedman has reported , Turkey spent millions of dollars “ pressing the White House , the State Department , and Congress to ask the Justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The top lobbyist working on that case , Brian Ballard , extensively contacted Trump ’ s lawyer Jay Sekulow during that time .
Despite the immense lobbying effort , CNN reported that Geoffrey Berman , US Attorney for the Southern District of New York , wanted a criminal prosecution anyway and Halkbank was eventually indicted on October 15 as part of a scheme to evade US sanctions on Iran .
Earlier that month , Trump ’ s friendly relationship with Erdogan briefly eroded after the White House issued a statement giving Turkey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , all but ensuring the destruction of Kurdish fighters there who had been allies with US troops against the Islamic State .
Trump ’ s decision was widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike , forcing him to adopt a much harsher position toward Turkey .
A day later , he threatened to “ totally destroy and obliterate ” Turkey ’ s economy if it does anything “ off limits ” in Syria .
The indictment against Halkbank came soon after .
Sen. Ron Wyden ( D-Ore. ) , who had been investigating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation , tweeted that CNN ’ s story “ confirmed ” his suspicions about Barr “ was trying to orchestrate a sweetheart deal to please President Erdogan.
” News of Barr intervening on Trump ’ s behalf yet again is notable because , only yesterday , Barr told ABC News that Trump ’ s tweets about DOJ “ make it impossible for me to do my job.
” It was possibly the sharpest reprisal Barr has had for his boss since joining the Cabinet last year , but given how Barr has interceded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s not clear what this means for their relationship .
On Saturday morning , Trump defied Barr ’ s request and tweeted more harsh words for the Justice Department , this time for dropping the case against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe .

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Friday to claim he has a “legal right” to interfere in Justice Department cases, but insisted that he has “so far chosen not to.” Anyone following Trump’s social media presence knows that not to be the case. He regularly tweets about business before the Justice Department and only last week praised Attorney General William Barr for softening the department’s sentencing guidance for Roger Stone, a Trump ally who was convicted of lying to Congress and obstruction of justice last year.
On Saturday, CNN turned up an egregious example of Barr running interference for Trump at DOJ, reporting that he “personally spearheaded” an effort last year to save Halkbank, a state-owned Turkish bank, from being indicted after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “pressed Trump in a bid to avoid charges.” Erdogan’s personal involvement complemented a months-long lobbying campaign by Turkey to avoid prosecution. As my colleague Dan Friedman has reported, Turkey spent millions of dollars “pressing the White House, the State Department, and Congress to ask the Justice Department not to prosecute the Turkish bank. The top lobbyist working on that case, Brian Ballard, extensively contacted Trump’s lawyer Jay Sekulow during that time.
Despite the immense lobbying effort, CNN reported that Geoffrey Berman, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, wanted a criminal prosecution anyway and Halkbank was eventually indicted on October 15 as part of a scheme to evade US sanctions on Iran.
Earlier that month, Trump’s friendly relationship with Erdogan briefly eroded after the White House issued a statement giving Turkey a green light to invade northeastern Syria, all but ensuring the destruction of Kurdish fighters there who had been allies with US troops against the Islamic State. Trump’s decision was widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, forcing him to adopt a much harsher position toward Turkey. A day later, he threatened to “totally destroy and obliterate” Turkey’s economy if it does anything “off limits” in Syria.
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019
The indictment against Halkbank came soon after. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who had been investigating Trump’s role in the Halkbank investigation, tweeted that CNN’s story “confirmed” his suspicions about Barr “was trying to orchestrate a sweetheart deal to please President Erdogan.”
If true, why would they not be impeachable? https://t.co/ZtR9mASiT0 — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) February 15, 2020
News of Barr intervening on Trump’s behalf yet again is notable because, only yesterday, Barr told ABC News that Trump’s tweets about DOJ “make it impossible for me to do my job.” It was possibly the sharpest reprisal Barr has had for his boss since joining the Cabinet last year, but given how Barr has interceded on Trump’s behalf before, it’s not clear what this means for their relationship. On Saturday morning, Trump defied Barr’s request and tweeted more harsh words for the Justice Department, this time for dropping the case against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.


motherjones--2020-02-15--Ukrainian President Asks Trump to “Please, Please Stop Saying That Ukraine Is a Corrupt Country”

President Donald Trump famously had a request for the president of Ukraine when the two leaders spoke over the phone on July 25 .
That request to launch politicized investigations into Joe Biden and his son turned into a months-long congressional investigation , making Trump only the third president in history to be impeached .
Now President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has his own request for Trump .
“ Please , please stop saying that Ukraine is a corrupt country , because from now , it ’ s not true , ” he told CNN ’ s Christiane Amanpour on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this image.
” Corruption is a persistent problem in Ukraine but Zelensky , who once played the president of Ukraine on television , has actually taken steps to crack down on graft and abuse .
He passed anti-corruption legislation within months of taking office and , in December , signed a whistleblower protection law that protects against workplace retaliation and provides free legal counsel to those who come forward .
Trump , of course , has mused about whether the whistleblower who reported his call with Zelensky deserved the death penalty and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several witnesses who gave testimony as part of the House Democrats ’ impeachment inquiry .
These reforms haven ’ t stopped Trump from repeatedly portraying Ukraine as hopelessly corrupt , which Trump argues is the reason why he wanted Zelensky to investigate the Bidens , not because it politically benefited him .
“ We ’ re supporting a country ; we want to make sure that country is honest , ” Trump said in September .
“ It ’ s very important to talk about corruption .
If you don ’ t talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money to a country that you think is corrupt ?
” But as the Washington Post noted later that month , Trump ’ s concerns about corruption are “ highly selective and remarkably convenient.
” On the call with Zelensky , he brought up Burisma , a company where Hunter Biden served on the governing board , and CrowdStrike , a California cybersecurity firm that helped prove Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016 .
The investigation into Burisma never involved Hunter Biden and had long been dormant , while the flippant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ baseless conspiracy theory that the firm ’ s analysis “ was suspect because one of the firm ’ s co-founders is part of a nonprofit organization that receives funding from a wealthy Ukrainian , ” the Post reported .
Far from the vaunted anti-corruption warrior he proclaimed to be , Trump was asking Zelensky to investigate hogwash .
All the attention Trump ’ s impeachment has put on Ukraine hasn ’ t stopped Zelensky from wanting another try at their phone call , though .
“ In my previous profession , when I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I wanted to get an Oscar , I wanted to be popular in the USA , ” he joked to CNN .
“ Now I am very popular in the USA.
” He added , “ If this way will help Ukraine , I am ready for the next call with Mr. Trump .
”

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
President Donald Trump famously had a request for the president of Ukraine when the two leaders spoke over the phone on July 25. That request to launch politicized investigations into Joe Biden and his son turned into a months-long congressional investigation, making Trump only the third president in history to be impeached.
Now President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has his own request for Trump. “Please, please stop saying that Ukraine is a corrupt country, because from now, it’s not true,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Saturday. “We want to change this image.”
Corruption is a persistent problem in Ukraine but Zelensky, who once played the president of Ukraine on television, has actually taken steps to crack down on graft and abuse. He passed anti-corruption legislation within months of taking office and, in December, signed a whistleblower protection law that protects against workplace retaliation and provides free legal counsel to those who come forward. Trump, of course, has mused about whether the whistleblower who reported his call with Zelensky deserved the death penalty and, after his acquittal, fired or reassigned several witnesses who gave testimony as part of the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
These reforms haven’t stopped Trump from repeatedly portraying Ukraine as hopelessly corrupt, which Trump argues is the reason why he wanted Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, not because it politically benefited him.
“We’re supporting a country; we want to make sure that country is honest,” Trump said in September. “It’s very important to talk about corruption. If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt?” But as the Washington Post noted later that month, Trump’s concerns about corruption are “highly selective and remarkably convenient.” On the call with Zelensky, he brought up Burisma, a company where Hunter Biden served on the governing board, and CrowdStrike, a California cybersecurity firm that helped prove Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016. The investigation into Burisma never involved Hunter Biden and had long been dormant, while the flippant reference to CrowdStrike seems to invoke a baseless conspiracy theory that the firm’s analysis “was suspect because one of the firm’s co-founders is part of a nonprofit organization that receives funding from a wealthy Ukrainian,” the Post reported. Far from the vaunted anti-corruption warrior he proclaimed to be, Trump was asking Zelensky to investigate hogwash.
All the attention Trump’s impeachment has put on Ukraine hasn’t stopped Zelensky from wanting another try at their phone call, though. “In my previous profession, when I was a producer, scriptwriter and actor, I wanted to get an Oscar, I wanted to be popular in the USA,” he joked to CNN. “Now I am very popular in the USA.”
He added, “If this way will help Ukraine, I am ready for the next call with Mr. Trump.”


motherjones--2020-02-15--Trump Tweets Another Lie About One of His Favorite Enemies

Before most of you were even awake , President Donald Trump tweeted another lie to his 72.5 million followers .
His anger this morning was directed at the Justice Department for dropping its criminal investigation on Friday into former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe .
McCabe , who served as the bureau ’ s No .
2 official under James Comey , was fired from his post only days shy of retirement after the DOJ inspector general found that he “ lacked candor ” when speaking to investigators about his decision to authorize a leak to the Wall Street Journal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Justice Department officials , but contrary to Trump ’ s tweet , did not recommend McCabe ’ s firing or suggest disciplinary action at all .
Since becoming president , Trump has tweeted about McCabe dozens of times , usually accusing him of bias because his wife , Jill , ran as a Democrat for a state Senate seat in Virginia and received support from then-Gov .
Terry McAuliffe , a loyal ally of the Clintons .
Another Justice Department IG report flatly rebutted Trump ’ s baseless claims , concluding that McCabe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hillary Clinton and McAuliffe .
The decision not to prosecute McCabe is one of several politically-charged outcomes that have roiled the Justice Department this week , largely thanks to Trump playing the role of DOJ ombudsman on Twitter .
Attorney General William Barr faced substantial criticism for agreeing to revise Trump crony Roger Stone ’ s sentencing recommendation after Trump tweeted that it was too harsh .
Barr said the decision had been made independent of Trump ’ s influence , but his track record of repeatedly covering for Trump on other issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , raises doubts about his independence from the White House .
Trump has not helped matters by repeatedly , ahem , saying the quiet part loud : A day later , Barr told ABC News that Trump ’ s incessant tweets about the Justice Department “ make it impossible for me to do my job.
” “ I think it ’ s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases , ” Barr added .

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
Before most of you were even awake, President Donald Trump tweeted another lie to his 72.5 million followers.
His anger this morning was directed at the Justice Department for dropping its criminal investigation on Friday into former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.
IG report on Andrew McCabe: Misled Investigators over roll in news media disclosure…Lacked Candor (Lied) on four separate occasions…Authotized Media Leaks to advance personal interests…IG RECOMMENDED MCCABE’S FIRING. @FoxNews @IngrahamAngle — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2020
McCabe, who served as the bureau’s No. 2 official under James Comey, was fired from his post only days shy of retirement after the DOJ inspector general found that he “lacked candor” when speaking to investigators about his decision to authorize a leak to the Wall Street Journal. The IG referred the case to Justice Department officials, but contrary to Trump’s tweet, did not recommend McCabe’s firing or suggest disciplinary action at all.
Since becoming president, Trump has tweeted about McCabe dozens of times, usually accusing him of bias because his wife, Jill, ran as a Democrat for a state Senate seat in Virginia and received support from then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a loyal ally of the Clintons. Another Justice Department IG report flatly rebutted Trump’s baseless claims, concluding that McCabe voluntarily recused himself from FBI investigations into Hillary Clinton and McAuliffe.
The decision not to prosecute McCabe is one of several politically-charged outcomes that have roiled the Justice Department this week, largely thanks to Trump playing the role of DOJ ombudsman on Twitter. Attorney General William Barr faced substantial criticism for agreeing to revise Trump crony Roger Stone’s sentencing recommendation after Trump tweeted that it was too harsh. Barr said the decision had been made independent of Trump’s influence, but his track record of repeatedly covering for Trump on other issues, from the Mueller investigation to Ukraine, raises doubts about his independence from the White House. Trump has not helped matters by repeatedly, ahem, saying the quiet part loud:
Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2020
A day later, Barr told ABC News that Trump’s incessant tweets about the Justice Department “make it impossible for me to do my job.”
“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr added.
What an idea!