President Biden’s advisers and hedge fund major David Rubenstein won’t say whether the commander in chief is covering the cost of his six-day vacation stay at Rubenstein’s Nantucket mansion, after Biden sparked ethical concerns by accepting lodging free in other houses and then not disclosing them as gifts on the annual forms.
The 81-year-old president arrived Tuesday night at Rubenstein’s 13-acre compound on the island of Massachusetts, and the White House stated tersely: “The First Family will stay at the home of their friend, David Rubenstein, as they have. done previously. “
Administration representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post on whether Biden is paying. A spokesman for Rubenstein, whose net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion according to Forbes, also declined to comment.
President Biden boards Air Force One on Tuesday.AP
Rubenstein was deputy domestic policy advisor to President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s and is co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms with investments in heavily regulated fields including healthcare, financial services, technology and aerospace.
Biden also stayed at Rubenstein’s home in Nantucket with his extended family over Thanksgiving in both 2021 and 2022. It’s unclear if he paid for that vacation.
Republicans and ethics experts alike say the travel raises concerns.
“I think the White House would really help here if it were transparent,” said Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration and a frequent critic of both Biden and former President Donald Trump on these issues.
David Rubenstein won’t say whether Biden will pay for his Thanksgiving stay at his mansion. Derek French/Shutterstock
“I think they should be clear about it. If she paid, she paid: that’s an option. If you didn’t pay, it’s a gift… and it needs to be revealed,” said Painter, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 2018 and 2022.
“I don’t know why he wants to be near the waterfront even though he has a nice place in Delaware that’s good enough to store a Corvette and classified documents and everything else.”
Biden’s failure to pay for vacations that have been confirmed as gifts or list them as gifts on annual disclosure forms has caused Republicans to claim a double standard after press attention focused on the judge’s travel. Supreme Court conservative Clarence Thomas with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow, who had no known matter before the court.
“I thought the new rules say officials can’t accept hospitality from billionaires!” said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch.
Rubenstein’s Oceanfront Property in Nantucket.Google Maps
Mark Paoletta, a former senior White House budget office lawyer and a longtime friend and supporter of Thomas, said he was aware of congressional efforts to obtain records from Rubenstein about the possibility of providing a trip to Nantucket. in 2013 to then-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. – adding that those demands for information may ultimately encompass Biden’s stays.
“The media doesn’t care when Biden repeatedly stays for free in billionaires’ mansions, when the owners are not there, and never reports it,” Paoletta fumes, adding: “It’s time for accountability.”
Paoletta added that he hopes Congressional Republicans will demand “all records related to Biden’s multiple stays at Rubenstein’s home” and issue subpoenas “to the owners of all places Biden has stayed at and failed to report.” .
The White House has been coy about Biden’s vacation arrangements in the past. For example, the administration claimed in August that Biden would pay for a vacation with her family to billionaire environmental investor Tom Steyer’s Lake Tahoe mansion.
Joe Biden and Jill Biden call active-duty military members during last year’s Thanksgiving at the Rubenstein home. Adam Schultz/White House
Local Nevada officials launched an investigation of Steyer for lacking the required rental permit, but abruptly dropped the investigation, sparking speculation that Biden was not actually renting the property.
Biden’s presidential vacation with his family to Kiawah Island in South Carolina and St. Croix in the Virgin Islands was unpaid, The Post previously confirmed.
Painter and other ethics experts insist that disclosure is required if the owner is not also staying at the property and that intentional failure to report amounts to a crime. Others maintain that the law is vague enough about what constitutes “personal hospitality” to allow such trips to be omitted even if they appear to be gifts.
Last August, Biden and his family spent seven days at the nine-bedroom Kiawah mansion of donor Maria Allwin, whose family runs a hedge fund, after asking her to use the house, a source told The Post at the time.
Joe and Jill Biden leave a Nantucket bookstore after having lunch during Thanksgiving last year. AFP via Getty Images
“They are not paying. They have never paid,” the source said, referring to Biden’s previous stays at the house during his eight years of vice presidency, which he also did not disclose in annual forms.
In late December and early January, the Biden family stayed seven days free of charge as “guests” at the St. Croix beachfront home of businessmen Bill and Connie Neville, who also offered Biden their property during his vice presidency.
The house is usually a VRBO rental.
Weeks earlier, the Nevilles had attended Biden’s first state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, joining an elite group of about 300 guests, including powerful businessmen and officials.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn