President Joe Biden and his family are vacationing at the ranch of billionaire donor Joe Kiani, the CEO of medical technology company Masimo, despite previous ethical concerns when Biden appointed him to a federal advisory board.

Biden, his wife, first son Hunter, first daughter Ashley, their spouses, and six of Biden's grandchildren arrived at the Santa Ynez, California ranch Kiani after his farewell speech at the DNC convention, where he officially passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kiani contributed heavily to Biden's campaigns and family foundation prior to being appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in September 2021. The board advises Biden on policy areas that include his own business.

Concerns expressed

House Republicans expressed concern in 2022 about “the appearance that [Kiani] is benefiting from his political contributions” in a letter to White House budget director Shalanda Young.

“Mr. Kiani is a prolific Democratic donor, contributing over $1 million to the Biden Foundation in 2017, $750,000 to the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country, and $1 million to the Biden Inaugural Committee,” the letter signed by a dozen House Republicans, including organizer Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said.

The letter continued:

In addition to receiving an appointment to PCAST, Mr. Kiani’s company Masimo has received nearly $3 million in federal government contracts since January 2021. Several agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have awarded contracts to Masimo.

Biden also gave Kiani tickets to the December 2022 White House state dinner featuring French President Emmanuel Macron — which gave him access to business and cultural connections he could use to benefit his business.

Biden praised Kiani in September 2023 for “finding and implementing solutions to reduce medical errors and other problems for patients’ experiences when hospitalized is going to improve health outcomes and protect our loved ones as well.”

“Joe Kiani knows a lot about that — been working with it a long, long time,” the president said.

Double standard

Former top Trump lawyer Mark Paoletta pointed out the double standard in Biden's vacations with multiple wealthy donors, while Democrats criticized Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's vacations with his wealthy friends (not donors).

“It’s the ethics double standard on display in all its glory as the last remaining days of Joe Biden’s grifting in public office come to a close,” Paoletta said.

“This donor ‘friend’ has been awarded millions in contracts by the Biden administration and is a Biden appointee. It’s open corruption in plain sight. And yet, Biden and his Democrat allies have the audacity to call for ethics reform at the Supreme Court. What a joke,” he added.

Paoletta is a personal friend of Thomas.

He said that the current trip makes “at least 17 trips [as president and vice president] that ethics officials say Biden has unlawfully failed to disclose.”