Biden’s son-in-law Howard Krein invested heavily in a start-up that invests in firms tailoring products to help the pandemic response. His exploitation of the Biden name has helped his business grow. Too bad that at the same time, other small businesses are being shut down and destroyed by his father-in-law.
We reported this in October of last year, but what’s new is abc news is also reporting it.
The company “goal with StartUp Health is to leverage their relationships and work with state and federal agencies.”
“Howard Krein is playing with fire,” said Meredith McGehee, the executive director of Issue One, a nonpartisan ethics watchdog group. “If he gets too close to that flame — if he is trying to either cash in on his relationship with the president, or he is trying to influence policy — the flame is going to get him. And it is not worth it to him or to Biden.”
-
The Importance of Prayer: How a Christian Gold Company Stands Out by Defending Americans’ Retirement
THE BEGINNINGS
In 2011, Krein founded the firm with his brother Steven Krein and veteran tech entrepreneur Unity Stoakes. Since then, Joe Biden has been an active supporter of the venture. He has headlined corporate conferences. He even invited the company’s executives to the Oval Office to meet then-President Barack Obama.
When the COVID-19 crisis emerged during Biden’s bid for the White House, Krein advised his father-in-law’s campaign unofficially on potential pandemic response plans.
How nice of him.
Krein’s involvement with StartUp Health has prompted more tough questions, ethicists and tech industry experts told ABC News. Among them: Should Krein advise companies backed by StartUp Health in their efforts to win lucrative government contracts? Should he weigh in with his father-in-law on policy decisions that may benefit those companies? And will he obtain sensitive government information that may help inform investment decisions?
“Dr. Krein presents an ethical dilemma because he’s being placed in a position where people want him to deliver access and information that will provide them with a competitive advantage,” said Scott Amey, general counsel at the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, which investigates possible conflicts of interest and allegations of waste or fraud in federal government.
Transparency Needed
“At the same time, Biden has to ensure that family and friends’ private matters don’t merge with official government actions,” Amey said. “This situation will take a good amount of transparency and oversight to ensure that lines are not crossed and that ethics standards are upheld.”
What are the chances Joe will be transparent? He won’t even answer questions.
Joe Biden has said that he keeps his distance from family ventures, and he’s very ethical.
StartUp Health has invested nearly $2 billion over the past decade. The funds were poured into more than 350 startups focused on addressing challenges in health care.
THE OBAMA INTERVIEW
Shortly after the company was started, its founders were invited to an Oval Office meeting with then-President Barack Obama to preview their plans. Howard Krein recounted the details of that visit in a 2015 interview.
“I happened to be talking to my father-in-law that day and I mentioned Steve and Unity were down there [in D.C.],” Krein said. “[Biden] knew about StartUp Health and was a big fan of it. He asked for Steve’s number and said, ‘I have to get them up here to talk with Barack.’ The Secret Service came and got Steve and Unity and brought them to the Oval Office.”
In the intervening years, as StartUp Health has expanded its footprint in the health care tech sphere, its executives have invoked the White House meeting and their special ties to Biden as evidence of the venture’s prominence. References to Biden are scattered across StartUp Health’s website and publications. The company’s blog even republished an excerpt from Biden’s memoir.
Biden’s public praise of both the company and Krein only escalated when he left the vice presidency.
Biden keeps businesses shut down, kills jobs in the fossil fuel industry, and destroys small companies with a $15 an hour wage. At the same time, his family is cashing in.
Subscribe to the Daily Newsletter
wpDiscuz
