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James Biden’s dealmaking caught on FBI tapes in unrelated bribery probe
While Joe Biden campaigned in Mississippi, his brother planned to build a powerful consulting business -- a deal that brought him to the periphery of a federal case
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/17/james-bidens-dealmaking-caught-fbi-tapes-unrelated-bribery-probe/
OXFORD, Miss. — Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, a famed Mississippi trial attorney, was tantalizingly close to a historic deal to force tobacco companies to pay billions of dollars — but there was one last hurdle. A divided Congress had to sign off. And Scruggs had identified one of the most skeptical senators, Joe Biden, as a key to winning the vote.
Scruggs turned to Biden’s younger brother James, an old acquaintance who ran a D.C. consulting firm with his wife, Sara.
Scruggs paid the firm $100,000 in 1998 for advice on passing the bill, Scruggs said in an interview at his office here — the first time he has disclosed the amount.
“I probably wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t the senator’s brother,” Scruggs said.
Biden eventually backed the bill, which ultimately failed to pass Congress.
“Jim was never untoward about his influence,” Scruggs said. “He didn’t brag about it or talk about it. He didn’t have to. He was the man’s brother.”
Scruggs’s deal with James Biden highlights how President Biden’s brother has for decades benefited financially from his proximity to his powerful sibling, a relationship that is newly relevant today as congressional Republicans investigate whether President Biden assisted his family members’ business deals. During Joe Biden’s 36 years in the Senate, eight years as vice president and now three years as president, James Biden’s private business work — as a consultant for hire and behind-the-scenes political fixer — has often intersected with his brother’s public responsibilities.
For months, that probe has focused on the president’s son Hunter Biden, but the House Oversight Committee recently issued subpoenas for James and Sara Biden to testify, drawing attention to James Biden’s unique role in his brother’s life and career. James and Sara Biden’s company Lion Hall, to which Scruggs paid $100,000, also is cited in one of the subpoenas as central to the probe.
Scruggs said he did not know whether James Biden had talked to his brother about his vote, “but I hope he did.” Paul J. Fishman, a lawyer for James and Sara Biden, said in an email that neither had talked to Joe Biden about the tobacco settlement bill. “Jim Biden’s consulting work has never involved speaking with or providing access to his brother for this or any other client,” Fishman said.
The White House did not respond to a list of questions from The Washington Post about President Biden’s action on the tobacco legislation and, more broadly, on his relationship with his brother and whether he has ever used his public position to help him financially.
The deal with Lion Hall also illuminates the Bidens’ decades-long relationship with Scruggs, once one of the country’s most powerful trial lawyers, who made his fortune taking on corporate interests and making friends in politics. Scruggs took James Biden on a boat trip while discussing a potential partnership on asbestos lawsuits; flew Joe Biden on his private plane to a fundraiser; and met with Biden family members at a University of Mississippi football game, Scruggs and his associates said in interviews.
But James and Sara Biden’s ties to Scruggs also later brought them to the periphery of a sweeping federal investigation, one that eventually led to the trial lawyer’s epic downfall in 2008 over a bribery scheme.
As FBI agents circled in on Scruggs and his associates over a plan to deliver $40,000 in bribes to a local judge, they also secretly recorded conversations with James Biden — who, at the same time, was trying to create a consulting firm with the Scruggs partners. Neither James Biden nor his brother was charged or accused of wrongdoing in the case, which led to prison for Scruggs and several of his associates, including James Biden’s would-be partners.
Fishman, asked about this case, responded by email that “more than fifteen years ago, Jim and Sara Biden had serious discussions” with Scruggs’s associates in Mississippi “about starting a firm that would provide legal and consulting services. That venture never got off the ground. Jim and Sara were not aware of or involved in any unethical or illegal behavior” by the associates.
Much of the material related to James Biden in the Mississippi case is not available in court files, but the recordings, transcripts and other material were collected by Curtis Wilkie, who wrote a 2010 book about Scruggs, “The Fall of the House of Zeus,” which reported a number of details about the Biden connections. Wilkie granted permission for The Post to review his archives at the University of Mississippi, including FBI recordings of James Biden. In addition, The Post reviewed thousands of pages of court records and other material and interviewed key participants.
What emerges is a tale of money, politics and influence, stretching from Mississippi to the corridors of power in Washington, one that has echoes of a legal thriller by John Grisham — who, like the novelist William Faulkner, once lived in Oxford. It is, at its heart, a tale of the bond between the Biden brothers — one that is now being tested anew amid a flurry of subpoenas issued by Republican lawmakers.
While Joe Biden campaigned in Mississippi, his brother planned to build a powerful consulting business -- a deal that brought him to the periphery of a federal case
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/17/james-bidens-dealmaking-caught-fbi-tapes-unrelated-bribery-probe/
OXFORD, Miss. — Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, a famed Mississippi trial attorney, was tantalizingly close to a historic deal to force tobacco companies to pay billions of dollars — but there was one last hurdle. A divided Congress had to sign off. And Scruggs had identified one of the most skeptical senators, Joe Biden, as a key to winning the vote.
Scruggs turned to Biden’s younger brother James, an old acquaintance who ran a D.C. consulting firm with his wife, Sara.
Scruggs paid the firm $100,000 in 1998 for advice on passing the bill, Scruggs said in an interview at his office here — the first time he has disclosed the amount.
“I probably wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t the senator’s brother,” Scruggs said.
Biden eventually backed the bill, which ultimately failed to pass Congress.
“Jim was never untoward about his influence,” Scruggs said. “He didn’t brag about it or talk about it. He didn’t have to. He was the man’s brother.”
Scruggs’s deal with James Biden highlights how President Biden’s brother has for decades benefited financially from his proximity to his powerful sibling, a relationship that is newly relevant today as congressional Republicans investigate whether President Biden assisted his family members’ business deals. During Joe Biden’s 36 years in the Senate, eight years as vice president and now three years as president, James Biden’s private business work — as a consultant for hire and behind-the-scenes political fixer — has often intersected with his brother’s public responsibilities.
For months, that probe has focused on the president’s son Hunter Biden, but the House Oversight Committee recently issued subpoenas for James and Sara Biden to testify, drawing attention to James Biden’s unique role in his brother’s life and career. James and Sara Biden’s company Lion Hall, to which Scruggs paid $100,000, also is cited in one of the subpoenas as central to the probe.
Scruggs said he did not know whether James Biden had talked to his brother about his vote, “but I hope he did.” Paul J. Fishman, a lawyer for James and Sara Biden, said in an email that neither had talked to Joe Biden about the tobacco settlement bill. “Jim Biden’s consulting work has never involved speaking with or providing access to his brother for this or any other client,” Fishman said.
The White House did not respond to a list of questions from The Washington Post about President Biden’s action on the tobacco legislation and, more broadly, on his relationship with his brother and whether he has ever used his public position to help him financially.
The deal with Lion Hall also illuminates the Bidens’ decades-long relationship with Scruggs, once one of the country’s most powerful trial lawyers, who made his fortune taking on corporate interests and making friends in politics. Scruggs took James Biden on a boat trip while discussing a potential partnership on asbestos lawsuits; flew Joe Biden on his private plane to a fundraiser; and met with Biden family members at a University of Mississippi football game, Scruggs and his associates said in interviews.
But James and Sara Biden’s ties to Scruggs also later brought them to the periphery of a sweeping federal investigation, one that eventually led to the trial lawyer’s epic downfall in 2008 over a bribery scheme.
As FBI agents circled in on Scruggs and his associates over a plan to deliver $40,000 in bribes to a local judge, they also secretly recorded conversations with James Biden — who, at the same time, was trying to create a consulting firm with the Scruggs partners. Neither James Biden nor his brother was charged or accused of wrongdoing in the case, which led to prison for Scruggs and several of his associates, including James Biden’s would-be partners.
Fishman, asked about this case, responded by email that “more than fifteen years ago, Jim and Sara Biden had serious discussions” with Scruggs’s associates in Mississippi “about starting a firm that would provide legal and consulting services. That venture never got off the ground. Jim and Sara were not aware of or involved in any unethical or illegal behavior” by the associates.
Much of the material related to James Biden in the Mississippi case is not available in court files, but the recordings, transcripts and other material were collected by Curtis Wilkie, who wrote a 2010 book about Scruggs, “The Fall of the House of Zeus,” which reported a number of details about the Biden connections. Wilkie granted permission for The Post to review his archives at the University of Mississippi, including FBI recordings of James Biden. In addition, The Post reviewed thousands of pages of court records and other material and interviewed key participants.
What emerges is a tale of money, politics and influence, stretching from Mississippi to the corridors of power in Washington, one that has echoes of a legal thriller by John Grisham — who, like the novelist William Faulkner, once lived in Oxford. It is, at its heart, a tale of the bond between the Biden brothers — one that is now being tested anew amid a flurry of subpoenas issued by Republican lawmakers.
