Presidential aide to Biden and hedge fund magnate David Rubenstein did not say whether the commander-in-chief covered the cost of his six-day vacation stay at Rubenstein’s Nantucket mansion — after Biden sparked ethics concerns by taking free stays at another home and then failing to disclose them as gifts on forms yearly.
The 81-year-old president arrived Tuesday night at Rubenstein’s 13-acre estate on the Massachusetts island, with the White House firmly stating: “The First Family will be staying at the home of their friend, David Rubenstein, as they have done before. “
Administration representatives did not respond to several requests for comment from The Post about whether Biden paid. A spokeswoman for Rubenstein, whose net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion by Forbes, also declined to comment.
President Biden boarded Air Force One on Tuesday.AP
Rubenstein was deputy domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s and is co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms with investments in highly regulated fields including health care, financial services, technology and aerospace.
Biden also stayed at Rubenstein’s Nantucket home with his extended family over Thanksgiving in 2021 and 2022. It’s unclear if he paid for the vacation.
Both Republicans and ethics experts say the trip raises concerns.
“I think the White House would really help here if they would be transparent,” said Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration and frequent critic of both Biden and former President Donald Trump on such issues.
David Rubenstein won’t say if Biden paid for his Thanksgiving stay at his mansion.Derek French/Shutterstock
“I think they should be clear about that. If he pays, he pays — that’s an option. If he doesn’t pay, it’s a gift … and you have to disclose that,” said Painter, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 2018 and 2022.
“I don’t know why he wants to be near the coast even though he has a nice place in Delaware that’s nice enough to keep Corvettes and classified documents and everything.”
Biden’s failure to pay for vacations that had been certified as free gifts or list them as gifts on annual disclosure forms has drawn Republican allegations of double standards after sustained press attention over conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ trip with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow — who had no affair known before the court.
“I think the new rule is that officials can’t accept hospitality from billionaires!” said Tom Fitton, president of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch.
Rubenstein’s waterfront property on Nantucket.Google Maps
Mark Paoletta, a former top lawyer in the White House budget office and a longtime friend and defender of Thomas, said he was aware of Congressional efforts to obtain records from Rubenstein about possibly setting up a 2013 Nantucket visit to then-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer — adding that the request for information that may eventually include Biden’s stay.
“The media doesn’t care when Biden repeatedly lives for free in a billionaire’s mansion, when the owner isn’t there, and never reports it,” Paoletta fumed, adding: “It’s time for accountability.”
Paoletta added that she hoped congressional Republicans would demand “all records related to some of Biden’s stays at the Rubenstein home” and issue subpoenas “to the owners of all the places where Biden has stayed and gone unreported.”
The White House has been embarrassed about Biden’s vacation arrangements in the past. For example, the administration claimed in August that Biden would pay for a family vacation at billionaire environmental investor Tom Steyer’s Lake Tahoe mansion.
Joe Biden and Jill Biden called active duty military members during Thanksgiving last year at the Rubenstein home. Adam Schultz/White House
Local Nevada officials launched an investigation of Steyer for lacking a required rental permit, but abruptly dropped the investigation — leading to speculation that Biden was not actually renting the property.
President Biden’s vacation with his family to Kiawah Island in South Carolina and to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands was not paid, The Post previously confirmed.
Painters and other ethicists insist disclosure is required if the owner does not also live in the property and that failure to report is a crime. Others maintain laws vague enough about so-called “personal hospitality” to allow such travel to be waived even if it appears to be a gift.
Last August, Biden and his family spent seven days at the nine-bedroom Kiawah mansion of donor Maria Allwin, whose family runs a hedge fund, after asking her to use the house, sources told The Post at the time.
Joe and Jill Biden leave a Nantucket bookstore after lunch during Thanksgiving last year. AFP via Getty Images
“They don’t pay. They never paid,” the source said, referring to Biden’s previous stays at the home during his eight-year stint as vice president, which were also not disclosed on annual forms.
In late December and early January, the Biden family stayed seven days free of charge as “guests” at the businessman’s house in St. Croix is across the beach from Bill and Connie Neville, who also offered Biden their property during his vice presidential run.
The house is typically a VRBO rental.
A few weeks earlier, the Nevilles had attended Biden’s first state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, joining an elite cohort of about 300 guests — including businessmen and powerful officials.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
