The Blog @ Spolitics

Biden Dirt Round-Up

Here’s a little taste of what’s circulating about Joe Biden, excluding recaps of his plagiarism scandal.

His connections to the Rezko scandal:

Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who’s pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing.

When the Delaware senator began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden’s Midwest field director in his failed 1988 bid for president.

In 2005, Cari admitted to taking part in an $850,000 kickback scheme that prosecutors say was part of a larger political fund-raising operation for Gov. Blagojevich overseen by Rezko, who was convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals.

His ties to the Mississippi bribery scandal (updated here) involving Dickie Scruggs:

Balducci and Patterson, as we’ve noted, once had high hopes for Biden. According to people familiar with their thinking, their bet on Biden (Syracuse law) was that he wouldn’t win the presidency but would become Secretary of State under a Hillary Clinton administration. In August, Balducci, Patterson, Scruggs [all three of whom were charged with trying to bribe a judge] and others hosted an Oxford. Miss., fundraising event for Biden. By December, employees of Patterson Balducci had contributed about $26,000 to the Biden campaign, according to fundraising records. According to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Patterson, Balducci, Dickie and Zach had contributed $2,300 each to Biden’s campaign.

On his lobbyist son:

During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the credit card industry win passage of a law making it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, his son had a consulting agreement that lasted five years with one of the largest companies pushing for the changes…

So much for the idea that Obama is going to change Washington.

Update: Biden received a Cheney-esque amount of draft deferments (5) during Vietnam before being disqualified for asthma. However the AP also notes that in his memoir: “Biden never mentions his asthma, recounting an active childhood, work as a lifeguard and football exploits in high school.” Of course, this isn’t really “dirt” as much as political fodder.