Hours after delivering a swan-song speech to a roaring crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago , President Biden was relaxing on a serene, sunny vineyard thousands of miles away in California. Biden, the first lady and several of their children and grandchildren are spending the week at an 8,000-acre spread owned by major Democratic donor Joe Kiani. The president is scheduled to depart for Delaware on Sunday.
Nestled on a back road in the tawny foothills of Santa Barbara County, the elegant estate is one in a long string of luxury homes owned by wealthy Democratic Party donors that have hosted the Bidens in recent years. Biden has close ties to Kiani, the billionaire founder and chief executive officer of medical technology company Masimo in Irvine. The president has described the entrepreneur and Democratic mega donor as “one of my closest friends.
” Kiani sits on a council that advises the president on science and technology. The relationship has riled up Republicans, who have raised ethical concerns about Biden vacationing at the homes of Democratic mega donors. Elected officials, including the president, are generally required to disclose gifts as part of the ethics laws passed in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
But officials are not required to disclose “any food, lodging, or entertainment received as personal hospitality.” Richard Painter, a corporate law professor at the University of Minnesota, said Biden would need to disclose the “free use.