Joe Biden intervened at least two times on matters his son Hunter’s firms was being paid to lobby on, according to government records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
The incidents took place when Biden was a senior and influential US senator, years before he infamously leveraged his position as Vice President to benefit a Ukrainian gas company whose board Hunter sat on.
On Feb 28, 2007, then-Senator Biden reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to let them know that he was “concerned about the Department’s proposed chemical security regulations authorized by Section 550 of DHS Appropriations Act of 2007.”
The rule, passed in 2006 as part of the DHS appropriations bill, requires chemical plants considered to be high-risk submit site safety plans to DHS for approval – which are to include security credentialing and employee training efforts.
Two months earlier, Hunter Biden’s firm was hired by the Industrial Safety Training Council to lobby DHS on the issue, earning $200,000 between early 2007 and the end of 2008. Of note, Hunter did not register as an individual lobbyist for the trade association while he was one of three partners at the firm at the time.
The trade group, which represents companies that provide safety training for chemical facility employees, was mounting a heavy lobbying campaign over section 550, submitting congressional testimony about the need to expand background checks for chemical plant employees.
The Industrial Safety Training Council was seeking to expand the “language in DHS legislation regarding security clearance and credentialing for chemical facility employees and employers” in January 2007, according to lobbying disclosure records. –Washington Examiner – READ MORE