Yesterday we were the first to report that none other than Vice President Joe Biden's son was joining the board of Ukraine's largest gas producer [5]. It appears to have signaled peak crony capitalist as the new went viral with almost complete disdain. There was one defender though... as The Washington Examiner reports [6], The White House brushed off questions about any ethical issues as Jay Carney snapped "Hunter Biden and other members of the Biden family are obviously private citizens, and where they work does not reflect an endorsement by the administration or by the vice-president or president."
As The Washington Examiner reports, [6]
Asked about the hiring by a reporter Tuesday, presidential spokesperson Jay Carney referred questions about it to the vice president's office and noted that it did not indicate that Obama was involved or approved of it.
“Hunter Biden and other members of the family are obviously private citizens and where they work is not an endorsement by the president or vice president,” he said.
Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman for the vice president, did not respond to questions about whether Hunter Biden discussed the job with his father or sought his approval before accepting it.
Instead, she echoed Carney's earlier statement and referred questions to Hunter Biden's New York law office.
“Hunter Biden is a private citizen and a lawyer," she said. "The vice president does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company. For any additional questions, I refer you to Hunter’s office."
Furthermore, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki also responded bluntly to the questions, saying only that Hunter Biden is a private citizen... and when pressed on the fact that Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs - who have been sanctioned and vilified by the US and Europe - were also private citizens she dismissed any concerns...
Forward to around 2:35 to see Psaki squirm...
In other words.. nothing to see here move along and go about your business, people of America...
Perhaps Curtis Ellis, executive director at American Jobs Alliance, summed it up best...
...it is a typical Washington politics to exploit a foreign crisis for personal gain.
“The US … are trying to portray in the most altruistic and platonic fashion possible. However, it is very difficult to disentangle business interests from national interests,” he said.