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Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970), second son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and stepson of Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden; and is a partner at Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC and is Counsel to Boies, Schiller, Flexner, LLP, a New York based-law firm.

Early life and family

Biden was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the youngest son of former U.S. Senator and current Vice President Joe Biden, and his first wife, Neilia Hunter. His mother and younger sister, Naomi Christina Biden, were killed in an automobile accident in 1972, in which he and his brother, Beau, were seriously injured. He and his brother encouraged his father to marry again, and Jill Jacobs became Beau's stepmother in 1977. His half-sister Ashley was born in 1981.

Education

Biden received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University; and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. After graduating from college Hunter Biden was a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, where he met his wife.

Career

Biden is a lawyer with insider connections to the financial industry and government. He was a founding partner of ″Oldaker, Biden, and Belair, LLP″, a national law firm based in New York, and of the mergers and acquisitions firm "Eudora Global". Biden was chief executive officer, and later chairman, of hedge fund "PARADIGM Global Advisors", which he co-founded with his uncle James Biden and disgraced financier Allen Stanford, who was sentenced to 110 years jail for a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. At MBNA, a major US bank, Biden was employed as a senior vice president. Following that, Biden was appointed by Bill Clinton to serve in the United States Department of Commerce under Secretaries Norman Mineta and William M. Daley. He was director of ecommerce policy issues in the Department of Commerce. On May 16, 2006, Biden was nominated by President George W. Bush to the board of directors of Amtrak. He was confirmed unanimously on July 26, 2006 by the United States Senate for a term of five years, and was the vice-chair of the board until January 29, 2009. Hunter Biden served as Honorary Co-Chair of the 2008 Obama-Biden Inaugural Committee.

In addition to holding directorship for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and the Center for National Policy, he sits on the Chairman’s Advisory Board for the National Democratic Institute (NDI). The NDI is a project of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the organization that does what the CIA did covertly 25 years ago.

On April 18, 2014, ″Burisma Holdings Limeted″ announced Hunter Biden's appointment to the board of directors in a press release. Burisma is the largest non-governmental gas producer in the Ukraine, it was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus — a European tax haven. Burisma holds licenses covering the Dnieper-Donets Basin, the Carpathian and Azov-Kuban basins and has considerable reserves and production capability. The names of the actual owners of Burisma Holdings Limeted are being protected. ″Burisma Holdings Limeted″ is completely owned by another Cypriot offshore company, ″Brociti Investments Limited″, which belongs to Mykola Zlochevsky, the former minister of environmental protection and then minister of ecology and natural resources under Viktor Yanukovych, positions of value to the oil and gas industry. Yanukovych was deposed in February 2014. While in government, Zlochevsky claimed that he had sold his energy assets, though an investigation later showed this was untrue. The records show another director named Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland’s president from 1995 to 2005.

Hunter Biden's father U.S. Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Kiev on April 22, 2014 and urged it "... to reduce its dependence on Russia for supplies of natural gas." And he discussed how the United States could help provide technical expertise for expanding domestic production of natural gas.

The United States maneuvering the Ukraine situation so that Western Oil Companies have free access to shale gas (from "fracking") and drill all across the Ukraine, with the revelations that Hunter Biden serves on the board of a company controlled by a Yanukovych ally raised serious conflict of interest questions for US’ Ukraine policy the world over. The White House has dismissed nepotism charges against Biden's son.

The director of the US-Ukraine Business Council Morgan Williams pointed to an "American tradition that frowns on close family members of government working for organizations with business links to active politics". Williams stated Biden appears to have violated this unwritten principle: "... when you're trying to keep the political sector separate from the business sector, and reduce corruption, then it's not just about holding down corruption, it's also the appearance."

Memberships

Biden is a member of the bar in the state of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He is also a member of the boards of the World Food Program USA, and the Truman National Security Project, a national organization based in Washington, D.C. He further serves on the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.

Personal philosophy

Biden maintains a personal philosophy that is rooted in service to others.

In speaking about his father, Joe Biden, and the importance of helping others, the younger Biden stated in a November 23, 2007 article by Linda Waddington the appeared in The Iowa Independent:

I think my dad has always had an idealism about what he does and he has passed that on to us. I think he feels more than anything if you can wade through the bad parts of politics, that what you really have an opportunity to do is help people. One thing I did learn is that you don’t have to be a United States Senator to help people. You don’t have to be an elected official to serve.

Personal life

Biden is married to Kathleen, and they have three daughters, Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy.

References

1. ^ All in the family: Hunter Biden, The Iowa Independent, Washington, DC: The American Independent News Network, 23 November 2007, Waddington, L., Retrieved 6 May 2014.
2. ^ Hunter Biden quits lobbyist work, ABC.com, New York, NY: ABC News Internet Ventures, 13 September 2008, Hoppock, J., Retrieved 7 May 2014.
3. ^ Friends of the World Food Program Board of Directors, World Food Program USA, Washington, DC: World Food Program USA, Undated.
4. Kevin Connolly (August 28, 2008). "Biden shows more bark than bite". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
5. John M. Broder (August 28, 2008). "Biden Opens New Phase With Attack on McCain". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
6. Seelye, Katharine Q. (2008-08-24). "Jill Biden Heads Toward Life in the Spotlight". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-25. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
7. ^ Strasburg, Jenny; Weidlich, Thorn (January 31, 2007). "Lobbyist Hunter Biden is sued on Paradigm purchase (Update1)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
8. Executive profile: Robert Hunter Biden Bloomberg BusinessWeek, New York, NY: Bloomberg L.P., Undated.
9. "Amtrak Board Names Thomas Carper of Illinois as Chairman; Former Chairman Donna McLean becomes Vice Chairman" (Press release). Amtrak. January 30, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
10. What is NED
11. Biden’s Son, Polish Ex-President Quietly Sign On To Ukrainian Gas Company, Buzzfeed, 14 May 2014
12. "Hunter Biden [son of US VP Joe Biden] joins the team of Burisma Holdings [Ukraine gas producer]" (Press release). Burisma Holdings. May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
13. Vice President Joe Biden's son joins Ukraine gas company, BBC News (14 May 2014)
14. Template:Uk icon Former President of Poland also has a position in the oil and gas holding deputy Kliuiev, Ukrayinska Pravda (14 May 2014)
15. Another Biden Has Waded Into the Ukraine Crisis - The vice president's son has taken a new role in the country's energy industry, National Journal, 13 May 2014
16. Who are Hunter Biden's Ukrainian bosses?, Deutsche Welle, 14 May 2014
17. Biden's Son, Kerry Family Friend Join Ukrainian Gas Producer's Board - Ukraine's Burisma Holdings Is Controlled by Former Energy Official Under Yanukovych, The Wall Street Journal, 14 May 2014
18. Biden Offers Strong Support to Ukraine and Issues a Sharp Rebuke to Russia, The New York Times, 22. April 2014
19. Biden arrives in Ukraine to show U.S. support as crisis with Russia continues, The Washington Post (14 May 2014)
20. Hunter Biden’s new job at a Ukrainian gas company is a problem for U.S. soft power, The Washington Post, 14 May 2014
21. White House nixes Biden son 'nepotism charge', China Daily, 14 May 2014
22. "Muted response to Biden son's Ukraine job". Deutsche Welle. dw.de. August 2, 1997. Retrieved May 19, 2014. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
23. WFP USA: The Philippines and honoring Bob Dole (video), YouTube, World Food Program USA, 16 December 2013.
24. The feed: December edition: Final helping: Philippines, World Food Program USA, Washington, DC: World Food Program USA, 18 December 2013.

External links

• World Food Program USA: The Philippines and honoring Bob Dole (video)

Template:Persondata

• 1970 births
• American Roman Catholics
• Connecticut lawyers
• Georgetown University alumni
• Biden family
• Living people
• People from Wilmington, Delaware
• Washington, D.C. lawyers
• Yale Law School alumni