President Biden’s younger brother, Frank Biden, reportedly has ties to a consulting company that tried to lobby the Obama administration on behalf of an oil corporation in 2016.
Frank Biden worked for Delmarva, which contacted the lobbying business Cassidy & Associates to represent Chesapeake Petroleum and Supply in an attempt to influence the Congress and the Defense Department, while Joe Biden served as vice president, CNBC reported on Monday. The president’s brother indicated that he worked for Delmarva, which has since gone under, in 2015 but denied having an extensive role in the company. Joseph Abruzzo, the owner of the business, claims Frank Biden didn’t have a formal position until Joe Biden left office.
“I provided advice and counsel based on my business experience. I had very limited engagement with Delmarva,” Frank Biden told CNBC.
Abruzzo said, “Frank Biden and I began planning the business in 2015 and had discussions through 2016. The structural formation and Frank’s formal involvement began in 2017.”
Frank Biden came under fire during Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, when he was accused of using his brother’s role to promote his law firm and commitment to environmental issues. The White House appeared to condemn his advertisement and connection to the president.
“The president’s name should not be used in connection with any commercial activities to suggest, or in any way that could reasonably understood to imply, his endorsement or support,” a White House official said.
In 2016, Delmarva was a client of Cassidy & Associates to “support wholesale lubricants and automotive supply distributor, market products to federal customers” on behalf of Chesapeake Petroleum and Supply, according to documents obtained by CNBC. Vernon Simmons, senior vice president of Cassidy, reportedly targeted lawmakers to “promote direct sales of lubricant products & vehicle supplement equipment in DoD [Department of Defense].”
Frank Biden previously indicated he would “never be employed by any lobbyist or lobbying firm,” and his associate, Abruzzo, said he was “not involved in any meetings or discussions” related to the lobbying firm.
“Frank Biden was not involved in any meetings or discussions or procurement related to Cassidy and Associates or federal lobbying efforts by Cassidy and Associates on behalf of Chesapeake Petroleum and Supply in 2016,” Abruzzo said. “Frank Biden never attended a meeting with Cassidy and Associates or any government agency or official, nor did he communicate in any manner with a government agency or official in 2016 or any other subsequent year on behalf of Chesapeake Petroleum and Supply Co. There was never any federal government business obtained or procured with or through Delmarva Group, LLC. To Delmarva Group’s knowledge, Chesapeake Petroleum and Supply Co. decided not to move forward with expanding their federal government practice.”
Joe Biden reportedly rebuked members of his family, including Frank Biden, for business dealings in the past.
“For Christ’s sake, watch yourself,” Biden said of his brother’s potential business dealings, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation. “Don’t get sucked into something that would, first of all, hurt you,” he purportedly said, according to Politico.
Last month, the Joe Biden transition team announced that federal authorities were investigating the tax history of his son, Hunter Biden, and it later came to light that the investigation had to do with his foreign business dealings. The inquiries into the younger Biden are said not to implicate his father, but questions have been raised about how much the president knew. Joe Biden denies getting involved in his family’s business ventures.
