A land deal between Joe Biden’s brother and a favored lobbyist is raising eyebrows

As scrutiny continues over son Hunter Biden’s ties to a Ukrainian natural gas company, some are taking notice of the real estate interests of Joe Biden’s brother James.

It looks like a sweet deal on property in the U.S. Virgin Islands James Biden was made possible by lobbyist Scott Green, who went on to regularly lobby Joe Biden during his time in the Senate, according to Politico.

In 2005, James Biden purchased an acre of land on Water Island for $150,000, quickly secured an easement, and divided it into three roughly equal parcels.

Just a year later he sold one to Green and his wife for $150,000 in what appears to be a nice deal for the Bidens, who retained control of two-thirds of the property. Subsequent tax bills put the assessed value of Green’s parcel at around $38,000 until that number jumped to $83,700 in 2013.

Biden later went to Green for a loan on the property instead of the traditional route, a mortgage loan from a bank. Neither Green nor Biden have developed their parcels, though it’s not clear why.

Green is close to both Bidens. Green and James Biden attended the University of Delaware at the same time and Green later worked for Joe Biden on the Senate Judiciary Committee for a decade.

After leaving the Senate Judiciary Committee, Green founded the lobbying firm Lafayette Group and regularly lobbied Joe Biden as a senator. Biden would propose numerous appropriations for businesses that Green’s firm specialized in.

Many of those contracts extended through the Obama Administration, while Biden was vice president. It’s unclear whether Biden knew that Green and his brother had cut the Virgin Islands deal during his time in government.[Politico] — Dennis Lynch