Joe Biden has been dogged by suggestions that his son Hunter benefited financially from Biden’s connections as vice president. Now a new report is raising similar questions, this time about Biden’s son-in-law, Howard Krein.
Krein is advising the Biden campaign on the Coronavirus pandemic, while reportedly investing in companies which could benefit from it financially.
If accurate, this is a gross conflict of interests.
Ben Schreckinger writes at Politico:
Biden’s son-in-law advises campaign on pandemic while investing in Covid-19 startupsAt the same time that Joe Biden’s son-in-law, Howard Krein, has been advising Biden’s campaign on its coronavirus response, Krein’s venture capital business has been running a special initiative to invest in health care startups that offer solutions to the pandemic.In March, as Covid-19 began spreading in the United States, the investment firm, StartUp Health, unveiled a new coronavirus initiative soliciting pitches from entrepreneurs with products that addressed the outbreak.The next month, reports in Bloomberg and the New York Times listed Krein among those participating in daily calls to brief Biden on health policy during the pandemic, while StartUp Health announced its intention to invest $1 million across 10 startups with coronavirus applications within 30 days.“StartUp Health is putting the full support of its platform and network behind building a post-Covid world that uses technology and entrepreneurial ingenuity to improve health outcomes,” the firm said at the time.Krein simultaneously advising the campaign and venturing into Covid investing could pose conflict-of-interest concerns for a Biden administration or simply create the awkward appearance of Krein profiting off his father-in-law’s policies.
This is especially damning because even the casual observer knows that Biden has based much of his 2020 campaign on Trump’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Tristan Justice of The Federalist offers some specifics on Howard Klein’s interests:
Howard Klein, the paper reported, who married Biden’s daughter, Ashley, in 2012, is advising the Democratic nominee’s presidential campaign while simultaneously investing in health care start-ups that could be on the other end of receiving billions in government pandemic spending.In April, Klein’s investment firm, StartUP Health, announced it would be sending $1 million to 10 startups working on the coronavirus pandemic after Klein was reported by Bloomberg and the New York Times to be participating in daily calls with the Democratic candidate advising him on public health.“StartUp Health is putting the full support of its platform and network behind building a post-Covid world that uses technology and entrepreneurial ingenuity to improve health outcomes,” the company wrote in an April statement…Avik Roy, who founded his own investment firm named Roy Healthcare Research, said Klein’s close access to the potential president on its own is likely to court big-money interest.“I have little doubt that the relationship to Joe Biden, particularly if he becomes president, would attract the interest of some investors,” Roy told Politico, adding that the relationship could also land Klein’s firm stakes in competitive startups.
Do I even have to ask how Democrats and the media would react to this story if it was about President Trump and his son-in-law? It would be described as disqualifying.
For Biden, this looks like a pattern, and you know what? Maybe it is.
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