WE KNOW THE UNICORN RIDER DIDN'T KNOW JOE BIDEN...:

Business dealings of Biden family could be problematic for him: His brother and sons have close ties to a law firm that has benefited from the senator's congressional votes. (Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger, 8/27/08, Los Angeles Times)

When Joe Biden's brother and son wanted to buy a hedge fund company two years ago, they turned for financing to a law firm that had lobbied the Delaware senator's office on an important piece of business in Congress -- and in fact had recently benefited from his vote. The firm promised James and Hunter Biden that it would invest $2 million, and quickly delivered half of it.

That deal eventually fell through and the money was returned. But it highlighted the close ties that Joe Biden and his family have developed with SimmonsCooper, an Illinois law firm that specializes in asbestos litigation -- a multimillion-dollar line of business that was under threat in Congress.

In addition to providing financing for the hedge fund deal, SimmonsCooper picked the law firm of another of Biden's sons, Beau, to work with it on dozens of asbestos cases in Delaware. "It was only natural that we worked with my friend Beau Biden and his firm," said Jeffrey Cooper, former managing partner of SimmonsCooper.

And SimmonsCooper employees have donated about $200,000 to Biden's campaign efforts since 2001, making the firm his No. 1 donor. All told, SimmonsCooper employees provided much more money to Biden than to any other senator during that period.

His family's financial dealings could be troublesome for Biden, who tonight becomes part of a Democratic presidential ticket that has vowed to reform Washington's traditional money culture.

...but had he never read Richard Ben Cramer? Are we supposed to trust the judgment of the only guy inside the Beltway who doesn't realize Senator Biden is a man on the make?

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 27, 2008 7:17 PM