President Biden has privately warned confidants that they cannot use his image or their connection to power to make money, according to the White House.
The ethical question surfaced when it emerged that his younger brother Frank touted his ties to the administration in an Inauguration Day newspaper advertisement for a law firm.
Biden’s election campaign was rocked by concerns that his son Hunter had used the family name to secure a lucrative and politically sensitive position with a Ukrainian energy company. And it follows four years of a president who declined to follow precedent and give up his business interests.
On Thursday, Politico reported that during the campaign, Biden had warned Frank away from trying to cash in.
“For Christ’s sake, watch yourself,” he reportedly said. “Don’t get sucked into something that would, first of all, hurt you.”
The younger Biden is not a lawyer but is an adviser to the Florida-based Berman Law Group.
During her daily briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the president’s efforts to avoid any possible ethical conflicts.
She declined to discuss private conversations with family members but did say Biden had delivered messages about maintaining ethical standards.
“The president is committed to ensuring we have the most ethically rigorous administration in history, and that includes restrictions on how his image can be used,” she said. “And that is something that he’s conveyed publicly and privately as well.”
She added that the president expects the highest possible standard from appointees.
“It’s the White House’s policy that the president’s name should not be used in connection with any commercial activities to suggest or in any way — in any way they could reasonably be understood to imply his endorsement or support,” she said.
In the recent advertisement, the Berman Law Group highlights its work in a class-action lawsuit against sugar cane growers in Florida.
“The two Biden brothers have long held a commitment to pushing environmental issues to the forefront; the president-elect has vowed to rejoin the Paris agreement and wants to set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, for example,” it says.
Frank Biden himself is quoted, saying: “My brother is a model for how to go about doing this work.”
