The lobbyist relative to a senior White House aide has earned more than $8 million from clients since President Biden took office in January 2021 — with some of the companies that keep the firm tied receiving a direct boost from the administration’s legislative agenda.
Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, received $8.3 million between the first quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2023, according to Senate lobbying disclosures.
That’s roughly four times what Jeff earned between the first quarter of 2017 and the third quarter of 2019, when Donald Trump was in the White House and lobbying firm Ricchetti Inc. received around $2.2 million.
The windfall has come as the Biden administration has repeatedly celebrated the work of businesses lobbied by Ricchetti – including one of the largest US car manufacturers, medical and pharmaceutical companies and Amazon.
Several companies represented by lobbyist Jeff Ricchetti received a direct boost from President Biden’s legislative agenda. AP Jeff Ricchetti, brother of senior Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti, has earned $8.3 million between the first quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2023. Finseca
The family ties have prompted ethics experts to ask Steve Ricchetti to recuse himself from any discussions with lawmakers that might be related to his brother’s firm, where Steve worked from 2001 to 2012.
“Steve Ricchetti should have recused himself completely from any part of the law that his brother’s firm lobbied for, and then asked the White House not to take calls from his brother,” Richard Painter, former chief ethics counsel in the George W. Bush administration, told the Washington Free The Beacon, which first reported on the arrangement.
Walter Shaub, the Obama-era director of the US Office of Government Ethics, singled out the Biden administration in June 2021 for engaging in “illegal” acts of nepotism during his first year of hiring.
“Steve Ricchetti should recuse himself completely from any part of the law that his brother’s firm lobbied for,” said President George W. Bush’s former ethics lawyer.Getty Images
“I’m sorry, I know some people don’t like to hear any criticism of him. But this is disgusting. I am disgusted,” he said. “Many of us are working hard to persuade him to restore ethics to the government and believe those promises. This is a real ‘f— you’ to us — and government ethics.”
“I’m not lobbying my brother, and I’m not lobbying the White House this quarter,” Jeff Ricchetti told the Wall Street Journal in July 2021 when asked about his work.
The White House also insisted that Steve Ricchetti withdraw from his brother’s business lobbying efforts.
During his first year in office, Biden visited a General Motors electric vehicle plant in Detroit months after Congress passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.Reuters
During his first year in office, Biden visited a General Motors electric vehicle plant in Detroit — months after Congress passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, including $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations and $5 billion for electricity and low emissions. bus.
Jeff Ricchetti’s lobbying disclosure for 2021 shows he was paid six figures to handle “issues related to tax incentives for electric vehicles and charging stations” and “issues related to climate policy affecting the automobile industry, generally.”
A month later, Biden also signed an executive order forcing government-purchased vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035.
The younger Ricchetti also represents semiconductor manufacturer Applied Materials, whose headquarters Vice President Kamala Harris visited in May 2023.AP
Jeff Ricchetti also represents semiconductor manufacturer Applied Materials, whose headquarters Vice President Kamala Harris visited in May to promote the passage of the CHIPS Act, which provides $52 billion in subsidies for domestic semiconductor production
Taiwanese vaccine distributor Medigen also hired Jeff to lobby Congress on “issues related to the Covid-19 vaccine received for foreign travelers to the United States.”
The following year, the National Institutes of Health granted Medigen a global license to the technology to fight the spreading Omicron variant, which was then used to vaccinate nearly 1 million Taiwanese.
Walter Shaub, the Obama-era director of the US Office of Government Ethics, accused the Biden administration in June 2021 of engaging in “illegal” acts of nepotism.Getty Images
Other customers of Ricchetti Inc. including healthcare and pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline, Horizon Therapeutics, Vaxart Inc., Neurocrine Biosciences, Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals and Eisai.
At the same time, Jeff Ricchetti was working for TC Energy Corporation, which ran the Keystone XL pipeline that Biden shut down shortly after taking office.
The White House and Jeff Ricchetti did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
