'Will be used against Trump': Joe Biden slammed as White House scoffs at bipartisan ethics bill aimed at presidents and vice presidents

WASHINGTON, DC: In a rare display of bipartisanship, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky) and Representative Katie Porter (D-Calif) introduced the Presidential Ethics Reform Act on Wednesday, May 22.

The legislation aims to curtail influence peddling among the nation’s highest offices and their families. However, the White House quickly dismissed the proposal, insisting that President Biden has already adhered to stringent ethical standards.

Presidential Ethics Reform Act

The Presidential Ethics Reform Act seeks to establish mandatory disclosures for presidents and vice presidents, including their immediate family members. This measure would require the disclosure of foreign payments, expensive gifts, loan transactions, and tax returns for a specified period before, during, and after their tenure.

The bill’s provisions mirror a growing public demand for transparency in light of recent controversies involving high-profile political families.

“Influence peddling is a cottage industry in Washington, and we’ve identified deficiencies in current law that have led to a culture of corruption,” said Comer.

“By creating this bipartisan legislation to provide greater transparency to the financial interactions related to the office of the president and vice president, we can ensure that moving forward American presidents, vice presidents, and their family members cannot profit from their proximity to power.”

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability emphasized that the bill mandates "presidents and vice presidents to disclose foreign payments, expensive gifts, loan transactions, and tax returns during the two-year period prior to time in office, during time in office, and for two years following departure from office."

Similar requirements would apply to foreign or domestic loans exceeding $10,000. Additionally, the bill extends these disclosure obligations to the president’s and vice president’s family members, particularly when they "accompany the president or vice president on official travel, specifying when they do so for business purposes," Newsweek reported.

Representative Porter highlighted the importance of transparency in maintaining public trust. “The American people deserve nothing less than full honesty and transparency from presidents and vice presidents,” she said.

“Our bipartisan Presidential Ethics Reform Act would let Americans view the tax returns, gifts, and other conflicts of interest of a president, vice president, and their families, empowering the public to evaluate our leaders’ behavior for themselves.”

Porter added, “By boosting transparency and requiring additional financial disclosures, Congress can shine a light on improper conduct in the Executive Branch — or be confident that none occurred. These reforms will help restore Americans’ trust in government and strengthen our democracy.”

White House's response

Despite the bipartisan support for the bill, the White House was quick to lampoon the initiative. White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams ridiculed the legislation as one of Comer’s “bright ideas,” arguing that President Biden had already taken significant steps to uphold ethical standards.

“We’re always happy to look at Congressman Comer’s bright ideas, but on his first day in office, President Biden implemented the strictest ethics standards of any administration in history. He has publicly released 26 years of his tax returns for the American people to see — the most of any President ever — and publicly releases his personal financial disclosures each year,” Sams stated.

He added, “So the president of course believes in the importance of presidential ethics, and he has already made clear his commitment to upholding strong ethical standards.”

Comer responded to Sams’ comments, insisting that the bill would reinforce President Biden’s claimed commitment to ethics.

“If President Biden is truly committed to upholding strong ethical standards, I look forward to his support of this landmark bipartisan legislation, which delivers transparency to the American people and enables robust congressional oversight,” Comer said.

Joe Biden's alleged corruption

The context surrounding the introduction of this bill is steeped in controversy. President Biden has faced repeated accusations, particularly from Republican circles, regarding his family’s foreign business dealings.

These allegations have gained traction amid the impeachment inquiry, which has traced over $7 million from the now-defunct Chinese state-linked CEFC China Energy to entities associated with the Biden family, beginning in early 2017.

In one notable instance, Hunter Biden invoked his father's potential retribution in a July 2017 text message demanding CEFC make good on a $5 million transfer, warning he was “sitting here with my father.”

Photos from Hunter’s abandoned laptop confirmed he was at his father’s Wilmington, Delaware home that day, though IRS investigators claimed the Justice Department barred them from accessing phone records to confirm Joe Biden’s presence.

Moreover, James Biden admitted during impeachment inquiry testimony that he sent $40,000 from CEFC to Joe Biden in September 2017, allegedly as a loan repayment. This transaction followed an email from business associate James Gilliar in May 2017, which penciled in a 10% cut for the “big guy,” whom multiple sources identified as Joe Biden.

President Biden has consistently denied any involvement in his family’s foreign business ventures. “I did not interact with their partners,” Biden told a reporter in March, despite evidence of meetings with associates from Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, and two separate Chinese state-linked business ventures, the New York Post reported.

Joe Biden slammed after White House mocks new ethics bill

Social media was inundated with reactions slamming Biden after the White House scoffed at the bipartisan Presidential Ethics Reform Act.

"Biden and ethical do not belong in the same sentence," one posted on X.

"10 percent for the big guy," another wrote.

"Biden is a lying crooked piece of s**t," someone else fumed.

"This will be used against Trump, not Biden," another insisted.

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