President Biden arrived on Wednesday in the US Virgin Islands for another free vacation at the homes of wealthy supporters – after the gifted stay has previously drawn criticism from ethics experts, including for his failure to disclose it on annual forms.
The 81-year-old president is expected to stay six nights at Bill and Connie Neville’s three-bedroom beach house, a secluded retreat in St. Croix typically operates as a VRBO rental.
First lady Jill Biden, granddaughter Natalie and possibly other family members will join the president at the lush villa — which boasts an in-ground pool and sweeping views of the Caribbean Sea and offshore islands.
Biden stayed in the same house last year during the New Year’s holiday and also didn’t pay a cent — sparking outrage because he had given the Nevilles tickets the same month to his first state dinner as president, which featured a curated list of some 300 millionaires. , cultural icons and politicians welcomed the arrival of French president Emmanuel Macron.
The Neville family, which could not be reached for comment, had loaned the home to Biden in previous years dating to his vice presidency and had noted the fact on ads for the property.
President Biden and his family arrived Wednesday in the US Virgin Islands. AFP via Getty Images
“As they have done before, the President and First Lady are staying at the home of their friends Bill and Connie Neville,” a White House official said.
The value of the free stay is more than $6,000.
As of Tuesday, the home is available for rent on VRBO — for $875 a night — in the same date range in 2024 and 2025, for a total cost of $6,338 before taxes.
The Bidens are living for free in a home that they otherwise rent on VRBO for more than $6,000. VRBO/NY listings
Biden’s habit of taking free vacations — and then not disclosing it in an annual ethics form — has drawn unflattering comparisons to the trips conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow, who has no known business before the court.
Biden, like Thomas, has a long record of receiving free lodging. But there are two important differences: Biden’s hosts are generally not at home and the president travels at the expense of taxpayers rather than his benefactors.
“Joe Biden has lived for free at the donor’s house for years and never included this vacation on the disclosure form,” said Mark Paoletta, a longtime friend and defender of Thomas and the White House budget office’s top lawyer under President Donald Trump.
“These are not old friends, they are rich donors, so there is no reason not to disclose. But because his name was not Clarence Thomas, who was visiting his friends at their house and didn’t have to report, the media didn’t care. They are protecting Biden and only interested in one side.”
House of St. Croix on the waterfront. Calabash Real Estate
Bill Neville, 61, is the founder of US software company Viking, which makes a news content platform called ENPS marketed by the Associated Press. He and Connie, 60, are from Alabama and have donated to Republicans and Democrats, including Biden.
Viking software is used by 800 news outlets, including the BBC and ESPN, to “easily find multimedia content”, “easily adapt stories for digital publication” and “integrate seamlessly with digital and social media platforms,” according to a profile by Virgin. Islands Economic Development Authority.
Biden has stayed in other luxury homes for free, spending seven days last August at the nine-bedroom Kiawah Island, SC, mansion of donor Maria Allwin, whose family runs a hedge fund, after asking her to use the house, sources told The Post. (First lady Jill Biden ended up staying longer because she contracted COVID-19.)
This retreat offers an in-ground pool and beautiful views of the Caribbean Sea and offshore islands. Calabash Real Estate
“They don’t pay. They never paid,” the source said.
In November 2021, the Biden family stayed for six days at the Nantucket Island estate of billionaire investor David Rubenstein, co-founder of the powerful Carlyle Group, which manages $382 billion in assets in the US and in other countries shaped by the policies of the Biden administration.
Biden returned to Rubenstein’s Nantucket home for a six-day stay around Thanksgiving 2022 and for six days this year over the same holiday.
The White House and Rubenstein did not say whether the Biden family paid for their stay, but he is assumed to be visiting without direct compensation.
Aerial view of Christiansted harbor on the north side of St. Croix. Getty Images/iStockphoto
In August, Biden stayed with his family for nine days at the six-bedroom oceanfront mansion of billionaire climate investor Tom Steyer at Lake Tahoe in Nevada.
In a break from the previous vacation, the White House said that Biden would pay Steyer “fair market value.”
The local government in Douglas County, Nev., required vacation homes to have permits and launched a short-term investigation into whether Steyer was breaking the law because of his lack of verified documentation.
The investigation ended abruptly for undisclosed reasons and the parties involved in the transaction did not say how much money changed hands.
The President’s granddaughter, Natalie Biden, also joined the couple. AFP via Getty Images
Biden is under fire for failing to disclose his free vacation on the annual form that requires federal officeholders to list gifts.
“The homeowner has to be a personal friend of the president or first lady and be present during the stay — if not, that will be stated on the form. There’s no reason not to put it on the form,” Richard Painter, the top ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House, told The Post in May.
“You cannot let the president just go around using the people’s houses for free without being exposed. That’s no better than a Supreme Court justice living on a yacht for free with no exposure,” Painter said.
There has been some disagreement over whether Biden — and Thomas before him — must list the vacation because of the “personal hospitality” exemption in the disclosure process. Some experts see that as allowing public figures to receive free lodging without disclosure, while others like Painter point out that the exemption only applies when the homeowner is present — and certainly not for commercial properties like the Nevilles’ VRBO rentals.
Bill and Connie Neville own a home in St. Croix. Twitter/Tigers Unlimited
Walter Shaub, who headed the Obama-era Office of Government Ethics, previously told The Post: “I’ve always been of the view that the exception doesn’t apply when the friend isn’t around, and I think the argument to the contrary is absurd. . . . Not the rich-friend-who-can- give-you-an-exemption. It should be for things like your friend’s children’s wedding or a home-cooked meal with your friend.”
Biden vacationed at some of the same vacation properties as the vice president and also did not disclose the stays as gifts.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
