Joe Biden’s Nominee For Federal Prosecutor Has A Potentially Huge Conflict Of Interest
The newly-named nominee has been investigating a case involving a close family member of the President.
On Monday, the White House announced new nominees for U.S. attorneys and federal courts. Among those nominated was Eric Olshan, who currently serves as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Pittsburgh office.
President Biden has nominated Olshan to the office of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania in order to fill the vacancy left by Cindy Chung, who was recently confirmed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
The incoming U.S. attorney will have to deal with investigating a case of potential fraud that involves President Biden’s brother, James (Jim) Biden.
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Chung had been overseeing the criminal investigation into Americore, a bankrupt healthcare business Jim Biden allegedly siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from in order to repair his beach house.
Olshan had been the lead investigator in a criminal case involving Ellwood City Medical Center (ECMC) which Americore Health owned.
Margot Cleveland, senior legal correspondent for The Federalist reports:
A health-care executive who claims Jim Biden defrauded him was interviewed multiple times by the lawyer Joe Biden just nominated to serve as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. According to two sources, while the Delaware U.S. attorney’s office is aware of the allegations, that office is not investigating the potential fraud, leaving the matter solely in the hands of the conflicted-future U.S. attorney…
…Olshan had previously served as the lead investigator in the criminal case against Daniel Hurt. Hurt pleaded guilty to soliciting and obtaining kickbacks from the rural Pennsylvania hospital Ellwood City Medical Center, or “ECMC,” which Americore owned. ECMC had allegedly received some $25 million in fraudulent Medicare reimbursements.
According to an affidavit signed under oath by ECMC’s former CEO, Grant White, the president’s brother directed White to loan him (Jim Biden) approximately $400,000 to repay a past-due personal loan secured by Jim Biden’s Florida beach house. Jim Biden allegedly later pulled additional funds from ECMC, totaling about $250,000, but he would only repay about $25,000 to the medical center. ECMC would later go bankrupt and close, prompting a federal investigation.
Source: The Federlist
Cleveland notes in her article that there are no charges to date against Jim Biden for misappropriation of funds from Americore.
Back in 2017, the CEO of Americore, Grant White, and hedge fund manager Michael Lewitt partnered with Jim Biden to create a rural healthcare empire across the country. In the summer of 2019, things went downhill quickly.
The Pittsburgh CBS News affiliate conducted an investigative report on the Amricore-owned Ellwood City Medical Center that went bankrupt.
This past summer they hit a roadblock. A company which had developed an operating model for rural hospitals accused them of fraud, saying the three men, in effect, forced them out of business, stole that model and marketed it as their own.
Now in a twist, that company, Diverse Medical Management of Tennessee, filed papers this week dropping its claim against White — saying White has supplied them evidence about James Biden and Lewitt, “indicating that millions of dollars in funds may have been taken by these defendants outside of the ordinary course of business.”…
…James Biden further denies that he was ever a principal in Americore — though this business card introduced as an exhibit identifies himself as such. And Mayor Court says Grant White would often drop Biden’s name in pitching the sale of Ellwood City Medical to Americore.
Source: KDKA CBS News Pittsburgh
Tennessee businessman Michael Frey and his partner Dr. Mohannad Azzam, the owners of Diverse Medical Management of Tennessee, allege in their lawsuit that Jim Biden played a prominent role in Americore and that he had suggested that he could lean on his brother’s political influence to pull strings and make the business successful.
FBI agents last month raided the home of the CEO of a bankrupt hospital chain and one of its hospitals in Pennsylvania in new signs of trouble for a company central to accusations of influence-peddling by James Biden, brother of former Vice President Joe Biden…
…Frey alleges that when Diverse Medical Management and Americore were in talks to merge, Jim Biden promised to exploit his brother’s political influence as vice president to attract international investors and make the venture successful.
Lewitt is alleged to have alluded to the Vice President’s clout in a text message to Frey to calm the latter’s worry about legal liability to his firm over an acquisition: “Jim [Biden] told me. Don’t worry every time someone threatens to sue you you’re with us now nobody is gonna touch you.” According to the lawsuit, “It was Frey’s understanding that Lewitt was implying that DMM [Diverse Medical Management] was ‘protected’ because of Jim Biden’s connections.”
Source: Real Clear Investigations
The President’s nomination of Eric Olshan, who had been investigating what happened with ECMC, to a position that would have him oversee the investigation into Americore and the actions of Jim Biden could present a very real conflict of interest.
Source:
White House Press Release. “President Biden Names Thirty-First Round of Judicial Nominees and Announces New Nominees to Serve as U.S. Attorney.” White House. March 20, 2023. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/20/president-biden-names-thirty-first-round-of-judicial-nominees-and-announces-new-nominees-to-serve-as-u-s-attorney/
Cleveland, Margot. “Biden Nominates Federal Prosecutor With Massive Conflict Of Interest Over Biden Family Corruption.” The Federalist. March 22, 2023. https://thefederalist.com/2023/03/22/biden-nominated-a-lawyer-for-pennsylvania-u-s-attorney-who-has-a-big-conflict-of-interest/
KDKA News Team. “KDKA Investigates Closure Of Ellwood Medical Center, With Ties To Joe Biden’s Brother.” KDKA CBS News Pittsburgh. February 19, 2020. https://thefederalist.com/2023/03/22/biden-nominated-a-lawyer-for-pennsylvania-u-s-attorney-who-has-a-big-conflict-of-interest/
Hemingway, Mark. “FBI Raids James Biden-Tied Business.” Real Clear Investigations. February 17, 2020. https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/02/17/federal_probe_for_james_biden-tied_firm__122447.html
