The Biden-Du Pont nexus: From a prestigious golf club to a controversial child rape settlement

As the MSM turns on President Joe Biden in the run-up to the 2024 election, the Washington Post had an interesting piece on Thursday exploring a little-known connection between the Bidens and the du Pont family, which revolves around a case in 2001 in which the then Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) was voted a prominent new member of a prestigious golf club in Wilmington, Delaware, founded by a Du Pont heiress.

That year, Biden, known for his “Middle-Class Joe” image and his modest financial situation, joined the exclusive Fieldstone Golf Club, a symbol of prestige and power. This move painted a contrasting picture: a politician aligned with working-class values, but who rubs shoulders with the state’s wealthiest family, known for their empire of chemical companies.

At the time, Biden walked a delicate line. For one thing, he campaigned as a “Middle-Class Joe” with Amtrak struggling to make ends meet, accurately describing himself as “one of the poorest members of Congress” — reporting $221,000 of combined income with his wife that year. and $360 in charitable contributions. – Wapo

Biden’s connection with the du Ponts extended beyond social interactions. His personnel choices, political allies, and personal real estate investments reflected a deep integration with this influential family. His acquisition of a mansion built by a du Pont member further underscores this relationship.

However, Biden’s entrance into Fieldstone Golf Club raised eyebrows and led to a brief FBI investigation in 2007. The investigation focused on how Biden obtained his club membership, particularly as it involved an “unused” ticket from a company owned by the club’s founder, ppotentially bypassing a substantial partnership fee. The FBI’s investigation, which included photographing Biden’s personal locker at the club, was eventually closed without any allegations of wrongdoing. It is unknown whether Biden was ever told about the FBI investigation.

In response to an inquiry, the White House said publication: “These outlandish suggestions from more than 20 years ago are confusing given that the Post reports that President Biden was fully responsible for membership fees at the golf club and all out-of-pocket costs associated with it. Frankly, the Post’s Els own reports suggest that this alleged affair was closed 15 years ago without a finding of wrongdoing. If you want to dig deeper into who is funding a president’s golfing habits, we might have some pointers.”

However, this story reveals the delicate balance Biden navigated between his public identity as an identifiable politician and his private interactions with Delaware’s elite.. While maintaining his image as a champion of middle-class interests, Biden also sought inclusion in the upper echelons of the state, epitomized by his association with the du Ponts and his membership in Fieldstone.

For someone raised in Delaware with Biden’s blue-collar background, “it would be quite an accomplishment” to rise in the same social circles as the du Ponts, said Joseph Hurley, a Wilmington attorney who grew up with Biden and represented Moseley .

“It’s like, “I’ve really arrived,” because the du Ponts were the family, the king’s kind of family,” He said. – Wapo

Biden often cited the du Pont family’s long role in Delaware in his family history, writing in his memoirs that his father moved the family from Scranton, PA to a suburb of Wilmington, which was financially more stable thanks to so many well-paid DuPont employees.

“DuPont meant security for today and better times for the future,” Biden wrote.

Years later, Biden remembered that his mother urged him to value his heritage with as much pride as the best-known family in the state. “Like he was a du Pont or something,” Biden recalled. “You are a Biden. No one is better than you, and everyone is equal to you,” his mother told him.

Still, he envied the position and power of those who founded the DuPont company.

Elected to the Senate in 1972, served in Congress alongside Congressman Pierre “Pete” du Pont IV, who later became governor of Delaware and ran for president. Biden’s close adviser and Senate chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, had worked for DuPont as a plastics engineer.

In 1974, Biden spent $185,000 to buy what he called “beautiful…huge” mansion built six decades earlier by a member of the du Pont family in Greenville, Del. The house, which he called “the station,” served as a base for Biden’s unsuccessful 1988 presidential campaign; he sold it for $1.2 million in 1996 and later bought a four-acre lakefront property in Greenville. – Wapo

The Biden-du Pont connection, strengthened by this membership, it raises questions about potential influences and reciprocal favors within these elite circles.

In particular, it seems appropriate to review it a controversial 2009 plea deal offered by then-Attorney General Beau Biden to a Du Pont heir accused of raping his own daughter as a child. Richards was initially charged with two counts of rape in the second degree, which led to a a minimum of 20 years behind bars. Instead, he pleaded guilty in 2008 to fourth-degree rape, which carries no minimum jail time.

The deal was offered to the du Pont heir, Robert H. Richards IV, who had confessed to the fourth-degree rape of his 3-year-old daughter. He was saved jail timea decision that sparked outrage and public scrutiny. Beau Biden defended the decision in 2014, citing weaknesses in the case and the potential for loss at trial, but these justifications were met with skepticism, given the family’s history with the du Ponts.

The leniency of the plea deal for a figure from a wealthy and powerful family stands in stark contrast to the harsher sentences meted out to less privileged criminals. This disparity points to possible bias within the judicial system, influenced by socioeconomic status and connections.

The bond between the Bidens and the du Ponts, established years earlier through membership in Joe Biden’s golf club, suggests a narrative of mutual benefits and unwritten understandings among Delaware’s elite. Although there is no evidence of a link, the timing and context of these relationships it paints a picture of intersecting interests and shared spaces between powerful families.