In the middle of his campaign for president, Joe Biden called on his younger brother, Frank, to raise an alert.
“For God’s sake, be careful,” said Biden of his brother’s potential business, according to a person familiar with the conversation. “Don’t get sucked into something that would hurt you in the first place.”
Biden, whose tone was both “playful and serious,” according to the person, then seemed to know what is becoming clearly obvious: his family’s commercial ties threatened to undermine a government whose message is centered on restoring integrity at the White House .
Relatives’ money-making ventures, especially his son Hunter’s overseas businesses, have long pursued Biden. But he’s taking on a new dimension now that he’s in the White House.
With only a week in office, Biden has had to answer questions related to the family. AN ad of law firm promoting Frank Biden’s relationship with the president caused controversy when it was aired on the day of inauguration. A federal investigation into Biden’s son Hunter called for a thorough examination of how rigid the firewall he will maintain between the White House and the Justice Department will be. And another from brothers of the president, James, already been criticized for his business.
Florida supervisor and Democratic donor John Morgan said business sensitivities were going through Bidenworld this week after the report on Frank Biden’s law firm.
“What Frank told me was, ‘My brother loves me very much, but if I pressed, he would cut my legs under me,” Morgan said Frank Biden told him this week.
The intent of Joe Biden’s initial conversation, according to the person with knowledge of the discussion, was to protect Frank from “being hurt and slandered” in case his older brother, “Joey”, was elected to the most powerful post in the world. .
“Frank made it clear to me what the president made clear to him: on the day he was elected, the long knives went out for all things Biden,” said Morgan. “There is a target for all of them.”
One person interested in working with Frank Biden was Morgan himself, a colleague from Florida who is close to the younger Biden.
“Great guy,” said Morgan about Frank Biden. “I sent my jet to take it to the inauguration.”
Morgan said he started talking to Frank Biden about business opportunities last year, but that nothing has happened yet. “We’re talking about him doing some things inside the law firm,” said Morgan, referring to his company, Morgan & Morgan, which calls itself “America’s Largest Injury Law Firm.”
Any partnership would have a “100 percent legal focus” and would not involve any lobbying, Morgan added.
There is no evidence of irregularities linked to their discussions or violations of the rules of ethics. Frank Biden is an ordinary citizen. Morgan does not lobby the federal government.
Frank Biden is not a lawyer, but works as a senior consultant at another Florida-based law firm, the Berman Law Group. Morgan is a prominent Democratic donor who donated $ 355,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in August, according to campaign funding records.
Frank Biden’s business partner, Joe Abruzzo, was also involved in a preliminary discussion about the potential deal with Morgan and Frank Biden, but dropped out after he was elected Palm Beach County Secretary of the Circuit Court and Controller.
“As a businessman for years, Frank is inundated with offers and opportunities,” said Abruzzo, who is also one of Frank’s closest friends. “He tends to focus on what he is passionate about: issues of education and social justice.”
He added: “John and Frank are good friends and it is not surprising to those who know them that they have been involved in conversations.”
A source with knowledge of the talks said on Thursday: “It is extremely unlikely that there will be any commercial agreement between Frank Biden and John Morgan.”
The discussion about the Biden family’s business ties comes after a campaign in which former President Donald Trump relentlessly hammered Hunter Biden for his previous business in China and Ukraine. Asked about his family’s business ties during the 2019 campaign, Biden, then the Democratic candidate, swore he would build an “absolute wall” between the White House and his relatives. He also promised that, if elected, no one in his family would serve on foreign councils. In December, Hunter Biden acknowledged an existing federal investigation into his taxes.
Although nothing was in place, news of the discussions between Morgan and Frank Biden revolved around Biden’s orbit after he won the presidential election. A person at Bidenworld received calls from senior Biden campaign officials, Florida lobbyists and members of Washington, all of whom knew about the conversations. Most expressed shock that Frank Biden was so quickly involved in conversations about new business opportunities, due to the uproar his professional negotiations caused during his brother’s presidential campaign, the person said.
Frank Biden has been running commercial ventures in Florida for a long time, including licensed schools, and has told others that he has no intention of taking on any new jobs in Washington, DC. of sugar that burn sugar cane as part of their commercial practice.
Frank’s work on the case made headlines this week after CNBC reported that the law firm was publicizing its relationship with his brother, the new president, in an advertisement.
“My brother is a role model for how to do this job,” said Frank Biden in an ad in the Daily Business Review, according to the CNBC report. “One of its central principles is that one should never question the motives of another man or woman or blame them. That way, you avoid creating a disparity that prevents any kind of union. Of course, you can question someone’s judgment, and that is what we are doing by taking this to court. “
Asked about the announcement on Thursday, a White House official said: “It is White House policy that the name of the president is not used in any commercial activity to suggest, or in any way that can reasonably be understood to be implied, his endorsement or support. ”
Originally published