Biden Visited GM Factory After Company Paid $160,000 To Lobbyist Brother Of White House Aide

Democrat President Joe Biden visited an electric car factory operated by General Motors after the automaker paid nearly $160,000 to the brother of a White House staffer, according to a new report from The Washington Free Beacon.

The report states that lobbyist Jeff Ricchetti – who works as counselor to President Biden and was chief of staff from 2013-2017 for then-Vice President Biden – has received “$160,000 in payments from General Motors since President Joe Biden took office to lobby the White House and Congress on electric vehicle tax incentives, according to his firm’s lobbying disclosure forms.”

“The investment appears to have paid off—on Wednesday, Biden will attend the grand opening of the company’s new electric vehicle factory as part of his push for Congress to ‘approve big tax incentives for zero-emission vehicles,’ precisely what Ricchetti was paid to push for,” the report continued. “Ricchetti has cashed in on his family ties to the administration. Ricchetti has already brought in $2.4 million in lobbying fees this year, double his 2020 haul of $1.2 million, according to numbers compiled by OpenSecrets. Ethics experts have criticized the Biden administration for allowing Steve Ricchetti to work on issues his brother is being paid to lobby the administration on.”

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics chief and Democratic candidate for office, believes that “Steve Ricchetti ought to completely recuse himself from any part of the legislation that his brother’s firm is lobbying on, and then have the White House not take calls from his brother.”

General Motors reportedly paid Ricchetti’s firm, Ricchetti Incorporated, to lobby on “issues related to tax incentives for electric vehicles and charging stations,” “the availability of semiconductors,” and “climate policy that affect the automobile industry.”

The Washington Free Beacon noted, “Three of Steve Ricchetti’s children work in the Biden administration, prompting Politico to label Biden’s White House ‘the Ricchetti administration.’ Walter Shaub, White House ethics chief during the Obama administration, said the Biden administration’s decision to permit nepotism amounts to a ‘f— you’ to ethics experts.