Biden 'forgets' to list luxury vacations at homes of billionaires on his ethics disclosure form, a violation of federal law

WASHINGTON, DC- The New York Post reported that Joe Biden refused to reveal his stays at the vacation homes of rich mega-donors in apparent violation of federal law. The revelation comes after leftist-rag ProPublica was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for attacking conservative Supreme Court justices for ostensibly the same thing. 

The Post report says that Biden took four vacations where he stayed at the ritzy vacation homes of wealthy campaign donors with none listed as gifts on the forms he signed. Under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, all federal officeholders, including judges and yes, the president, are required to submit the paperwork annually. 

“If there’s a deliberate omission of a gift, an intentional lie, that can very well be prosecuted as a criminal offense,” said Richard Painter, who served as White House chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. 

“It just seems to me to be stupid to leave it off the form because everyone knows about [presidential] trips and everyone’s going to ask who paid,” Painter added. As a point of information, Painter ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat in 2018 and 2022. 

In 2023, the Bidens stayed for free at the St. Croix home of Bill and Connie Neville for the New Year’s holiday, and ended the same year at the beachfront property, which the Neville’s typically list as a VRBO rental. Newsmax reports that Neville is the founder of US Viking, a software company that makes ENPS, which is news production software sold by the Associated Press. 

Last year, the Biden’s spent six days over Thanksgiving at the Nantucket home of billionaire hedge fund founder David Rubenstein, and nine days last August at the waterfront retreat on Lake Tahoe, Nevada of billionaire climate investor and activist Tom Steyer. 

The New York Post reported that the Biden trip to Rubenstein home was unpaid, however neither Biden nor Rubenstein has confirmed that. 

When it was revealed that Biden would be staying at Steyer’s retreat, the media was told that he would pay “fair market value” for use of the property, however a local investigation revealed that Steyer did not have a permit to rent out the property. For what was likely political pressure, the investigation into the matter was quickly dropped and no rental terms have ever been revealed. 

The Post reported that it is not believed any of the billionaire property owners were present for any of the four trips the Biden’s took in 2023. 

Painter told The Post that deliberately omitting gifts from the ethics forms could open up Biden or his staff to criminal liability. It should be noted that Biden’s Justice Department is currently trying to prosecute former President Trump, claiming that presidents do not have immunity from criminal prosecution. 

“If somebody told the White House Counsel’s Office, which prepares the gift schedule, ‘That doesn’t need to go on there because the president paid for the trip,’ and then the White House Counsel’s Office relies on that in drafting the…gift schedule, it is then given to the president and the president signs–whoever it was told the White House Counsel’s Office that doesn’t need to go on there because the president paid for the trip, if that person knew that was not true and knowingly told a lie to the White House Counsel’s Office, whoever that person is, they violated 18 United States Code 1001, the false statements statute,” Painter said of the Bidens’ stay at Steyer’s home. 

“If [Biden] knew the gift schedule was incomplete and someone told him, he would have the same liability,” Painter added. 

Under 18 USC § 1001, violating that regulation is punishable by up to five years in prison. 

“It just seems to me to be stupid to leave it off the form because everyone knows about [presidential trips] and everyone’s going to ask who paid,” added Painter. 

“So you either have to pay for the house, make sure the owner is present, or put it on the form. Those are your three options.” 

The Bidens have other issues where they appear to have been skirting the ethics law, including a trip by Jill Biden to the Super Bowl in February 2023, where the Philadelphia Eagles were participating, where it is not believed she paid for the ticket and which was also not disclosed. 

Conversely, Kamala Harris did disclose tickets provided by ESPN to last December’s Celebration Bowl college football game between Howard University and Florida A&M. Those tickets cost $1,890, according to a disclosure made by Harris. 

Meanwhile, while ProPublica has avoided looking into Biden’s apparent skirting of the ethics law, they have been all over conservative Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, ignoring a carveout in the policy which provides officials do not have to disclose “any food, lodging, or entertainment received as personal hospitality.” Both Thomas and Alito claim that privilege. 

Most experts including Painter and Walter Schaub, who led the Obama-era Office of Government Ethics, say a homeowner must be present for a free vacation to be exempted from disclosure, although some disagree with that assessment. 

“I have always been of the view that the exception cannot be used when the friend is not there, and I think arguments to the contrary make no sense,” Schaub told The Post. “It’s not the rich-friend-who-can-give-you-stuff exception. It’s supposed to apply to things like your friends’ kids’ wedding or a home-cooked meal with your friend.” 

Conversely, some others believe differently, including Kedric Payne, general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center and a former Office of Congressional Ethics lawyer. Last year, Payne told The Post that he believes the executive branch “does not have a requirement that a host remain on the premises for the personal hospitality exemption to apply.” 

Meanwhile, Mark Paoletta, who served under former President Trump as general counsel of the White House budget office, told The Post there are “two standards” applied depending on which party the official is from. 

“This is another intentional refusal to disclose gifts by…Biden. His habit of taking over donors’ homes for vacations and not paying nor disclosing is consistent with his family’s long history of grift and corruption,” said Paoletta. He is a longtime friend of Justice Thomas, whose free travel with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow was the focus of ProPublica’s left-wing hit job on him. 

Crow was present for some of that travel with Thomas, and has no known business in front of the Supreme Court. 

“Some liberal ethics experts have called Biden’s repeated omissions illegal and a potential criminal violation of [the] law. And this year, Biden also failed to disclose Jill Biden’s use of the luxury box at the Super Bowl. They aren’t ashamed and don’t even bother hiding it because they know the liberal media won’t say a word,” Paoletta continued. 

He then set his sights on ProPublica, a hack left-wing site funded in part by George Soros, which he said “was laughably awarded a Pulitzer for its dishonest agenda-driven ‘ethics’ reporting.” The site routinely targets conservatives and law enforcement while ignoring liberals and Democrats. 

“Where is the leftwing, billionaire-funded ProPublica?” Paoletta said, noting they “are completely fine with Biden’s actual, wilful violations of the law. Double standard doesn’t begin to describe the hypocrisy on display.” 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) says there needs to be federal reform to focus on gift omissions. 

“The radical left’s silence on President Biden’s many ethics issues is deafening,” Comer said. “From President Biden’s involvement in his family’s influence peddling schemes, all the ‘loans’ the Bidens received from Democrat donors, to President Biden’s free vacation stays at his donors’ homes, it’s clear we need to reform federal ethics laws to provide greater transparency to the American people.” 

Justice Thomas has said that he was advised the ethics law contains a “personal hospitality” exception and therefore he didn’t have to report the trips or reimburse for private jet flights. Reporting has shown that Mr. Crow also provided financial support to the justice’s mother and great nephew. 

Some far-left Democrats, including radical Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Hamas-sympathizer Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have demanded Justice Thomas be impeached or forced to resign. Last year, the U.S. Judicial Conference tightened up rules to specify that resorts don’t count as personal residences and therefore are not exempt from reporting. 

“This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking–almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached,” Ocasio-Cortez screeched in a tweet on X. 

Last Thursday, an unnamed White House official told The Post that, “The President and First Lady did not have any required disclosures of gifts or travel reimbursements during the reporting period (January to December 2023). Under the ethics rules, gifts of personal hospitality from friends such as food, lodging, and entertainment are not required to be listed on the report.” 

Painter, however, isn’t buying it, and noted that he doesn’t believe there needs to be additional legal reforms to clarify that such vacation stays must be listed on the ethics forms. 

“Most of these billionaires want something, other than just being able to be friends with famous people,” Painter said. “President Biden should set a good example by either paying for the house or fixing those forms.” 

Don't hold your breath.