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Joe Biden

Campaign Donations

Distributor Funneled Money To Biden Prez Campaign, Free Booze To Delaware Democrats


V.P. Joe Biden

An alcohol distributor has admitted he illegally reimbursed his employees for donations made to the presidential campaign of Vice President Joe Biden at a sham fundraising event and provided free booze at parties for numerous politicians.

Christopher Tigani, the former president of NKS Distributors Inc., admitted in a plea agreement with the Justice Department that he bundled at least $219,800 in illegal campaign contributions to federal and state candidates. He also admitted he and his company provided in-kind contributions to federal and state candidates and campaign committees, including free alcohol at political fundraising events.

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Topics: Campaign Donations, Campaign Finance, Joe Biden

Christine O'Donnell

O'Donnell: Fed Probe Ginned Up By Biden, Soros And Disgruntled Staffers (VIDEO)

Former Republican senate candidate Christine O'Donnell took to the airwaves of at least five morning shows today to fight back against the "thug politic tactic" being used against her by way of the federal criminal probe into allegations of improper use of her campaign funds.

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Topics: Christine O'Donnell, Ethics, FBI, George Soros, Joe Biden, Justice Department

Wikileaks

Biden: Assange Closer To A 'High-Tech Terrorist' Than A Journalist (VIDEO)

Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is closer to a terrorist than a journalist.

From the transcript:

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Topics: Joe Biden, Julian Assange, TPMTech, Terrorism, Wikileaks

Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell Thought Joe Biden Tapped Her Phone


Christine O'Donnell and Joe Biden

When she ran against then-Sen. Joe Biden in 2008, Christine O'Donnell thought the future Vice President was tapping her phone lines, a former campaign manager for the now-Delaware GOP Senate nominee told Politico.

Kristin Murray, who was one of several campaign managers for O'Donnell during that race, said the candidate broached the subject of phone security in June 2008 when they were discussing cell phone plans.

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Topics: Christine O'Donnell, DE-SEN, Joe Biden

Joe Biden

Biden Fined $219K For Illegal Campaign Contributions


Vice President Joe Biden

The Federal Elections Commission has fined Vice President Joe Biden $219,000 for accepting illegal donations and failing to disclose payments and debts.

According to an FEC audit, Biden's 2008 presidential campaign didn't return $106,000 in campaign donations that went over the individual limit of $2,300. There were also $85,000 in "stale checks" -- checks the campaign wrote to vendors and contributors which were never cashed.

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Topics: Campaign Finance, Democrats, FEC, Joe Biden

Joe Biden

Biden In '02: If It Were Up To Me, It Would Be 'Ambassador' Nemazee

"It is my great pleasure to introduce Senator Joe Biden. I take personal pleasure in doing so as Senator Biden is not only a man of unique accomplishments in the Senate but I'm fortunate to call him a personal friend."

That's how alleged Ponzi schemer Hassan Nemazee kicked off a March 2002 panel discussion on Iran in Washington, sponsored by the American Iranian Council. (Nemazee's father is Iranian, according to Forbes.)

And Biden was no less effusive in response as he took the podium from Nemazee. Here's the video of the exchange, which provides more evidence -- not that it's needed -- that the generous Nemazee was about as well-connected as a person can get in top Democratic circles.

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Topics: American Iranian Council, Hassan Nemazee, Joe Biden

Barack Obama

Biden Mum On State Secrets Bill He Once Supported

Et tu, Joe?

Last year, while trying to win the Democratic nomination for president, Joe Biden co-sponsored a bill to restrict the use of the "state secrets privilege" by the Department of Justice. But today, asked by the Huffington Post for Biden's current stance on the legislation, a spokesman for the vice president replied: "No comment on this from here." That "no comment" follows a similar tight-lipped stance from the White House itself.

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Topics: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Justice Department, Pat Leahy, State Secrets, Wiretapping

Barack Obama

White House Won't Say Whether It'll Back Effort To Roll Back State Secrets Privilege

A good advance on the state secrets story, from Greg Sargent over at the Plum Line.

Greg reports that the White House declined to tell him whether it would support a Democratic effort to roll back the use of the state secrets privilege.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Justice Department, Pat Leahy, State Secrets

Joe Biden

Report: Biden's Relatives Ran Fund Marketed By Stanford

A fund of hedge funds run by Vice President Biden's son and brother -- Hunter Biden and James Biden -- was marketed exclusively by Allen Stanford's companies, reports the Wall Street Journal.

From the paper:

The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens' Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity and was known as the Paradigm Stanford Capital Management Core Alternative Fund. Stanford-related companies marketed the fund to investors and also invested about $2.7 million of their own money in the fund, according to a lawyer for Paradigm. Paradigm Global Advisors is owned through a holding company by the vice president's son, Hunter, and Joe Biden's brother, James.

The fund has offered to turn over the $2.7 million investment it received from Mr. Stanford's firm in 2007 to a court-appointed receiver in the SEC's civil fraud case involving Mr. Stanford, according to Paradigm's attorney, Marc X. LoPresti. The fund terminated its relationship with Mr. Stanford's companies after the SEC filed civil charges against them last week, Mr. LoPresti said.

Paradigm's lawyer told the Journal that the Bidens never met or communicated with Mr. Stanford. "There is no connection between the Bidens and Allen Stanford or Stanford period, full stop," he said. "There never was any meeting between any member of the Biden family, no phone calls, zero correspondence."

Stanford was charged last week by the SEC with orchestrating an $8 billion investment scam. He has cultivated ties to a slew of Washington lawmakers.

A Paradigm marketer, Jeffrey Schneider, told the Journal he brought in the Stanford business.

According to Paradigm's lawyer, companies owned by Stanford put up $2.7 million in seed money and marketed the fund. SEC records show the fund, launched in June 2007, had 104 investors with assets of $49.8 million, as of November 2008.

It's hard to know what to make of this for now. But there seems to be more information yet to come out about the fee structure of the arrangement.

The paper reports:

Under an agreement, Stanford was entitled to share in a portion of the fund's management and performance fees, Mr. LoPresti [Paradigm's lawyer] said. "That's all I'm going to say on the fee side of things," he said.

Just what the White House needs.

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Topics: Allen Stanford, Joe Biden, Stanford Financial Group