The lobbying brother of a top adviser to the president-elect, Joe Biden, has been gathering customers since Biden’s victory was declared, according to reports – causing conflict of interest in the new White House inner circle.
Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of Biden’s longtime aide, Steve Ricchetti, signed a lobbying contract with Amazon Web Services in November, less than a week after Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, CNBC reported on Saturday.
Two days later, Jeff Ricchetti registered as a lobbyist for Evofem Biosciences, pushing for contraceptive coverage in federal health care plans.
That same week, Steve Ricchetti, who served as president of Biden’s campaign and vice president of his chief of staff, was named “president’s adviser,” a position held by trusted aides such as Kellyanne Conway under President Trump.
The Ricchetti brothers co-founded their lobby firm in Washington, DC, Ricchetti Inc., in 2001. The firm handled pharmaceutical clients such as Eli Lilly and Sanofi during Biden’s second vice presidential term, when Steve Ricchetti left the company. to become Biden’s right hand man. man.
But his resume drew strong criticism from progressive Democrats.
Ricchetti “is a former pharmaceutical lobbyist and has strongly advocated for Medicare For All and the public manufacture of prescription drugs,” Alexandra Rojas of the progressive group Justice Democrats said last month.
“If Joe Biden continues to make business-friendly appointments to his White House, he will risk quickly breaking the much-earned goodwill built by his team of progressives to defeat Donald Trump,” she added.
A source assured CNBC that Jeff Ricchetti’s client list should not cause any concern.
“Steve and Jeff keep their careers separate,” the source said.