Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Biden, Kerry, Ukrainian gas company, MBNA - Conflict of Interests

Biden's latest conflict of interest:
One of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s sons has become a member of the board of a Ukrainian gas company linked to ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Burisma Holdings Ltd. says Hunter Biden, 44, joined its board earlier this month and is now in charge of its legal affairs.

Biden joined Burisma several weeks after Devon Archer joined the board to help recruit investors to the company. Archer, 39, was a college roommate of Christopher Heinz, a stepson of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry...

Both Biden and Archer are employees of Rosemont Seneca Partners, a U.S. investment company. It is affiliated with Rosemont Capital, a private-equity firm that Archer and [Christopher] Heinz co-founded...

In a statement on the Burisma [Ukrainian gas company's] website, Biden said the gas company “can be a strong driver of a strong economy in Ukraine. As a new member of the Board, I believe that my assistance in consulting the company... will contribute to the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine.”

Archer issued a similar statement.

Both Vice President Biden and Kerry have publicly expressed support of Ukrainians who demonstrated for closer ties with Europe and drove Yanukovych and his government, which had sought closer relations with Russia, from power.

Yanukovych’s ouster has led to violence between pro-Russia separatist rebels and the country’s military.

In the turmoil, gas has become a focus of the tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine gets most of its gas from the Russian government’s majority-owned gas company, Gazprom. Kiev accuses the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin of unfairly increasing gas prices to punish Kiev for establishing closer relations with the European Union.

Vice President Biden went to Kiev last month to offer U.S. expertise to help expand Ukraine’s domestic gas production...
You get the picture?

In August of 2008, a similar question of conflict of interest arose pertaining to Biden's ties to MBNA.

CBS reported at the time:
[Hunter Biden], a son of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden was paid an undisclosed amount of money as a consultant by MBNA, the largest employer in Delaware, during the years the senator supported legislation that was promoted by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups. [The legislation made it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection.]

MBNA employees have poured more than $200,000 into Biden's Senate campaigns over the past two decades, making donors working for the credit card company the senator's largest source of campaign money.
There is more to report on the Biden/MBNA connection, but why bother, you get the picture.....