Certain business activities of Joe Biden's son-in-law Howard Krein might lead to a rather awkward situation in the future if the Democratic presidential candidate wins the upcoming election, Politico reports”.
According to the media outlet, when COVID-19 started spreading across the United States in March, StartUp Health LLC, where Krein operates as Chief Medical Officer, presented a "new coronavirus initiative” involving "soliciting pitches from entrepreneurs with products that addressed the outbreak".
However, the following month, even as StartUp Health announced its intent to “invest $1 million across 10 startups with coronavirus applications within 30 days", Krein got mentioned by Bloomberg and NYT as participating in "daily calls to brief Biden on health policy during the pandemic".
Krein "venturing into Covid investing" while at the same time advising the Democratic presidential hopeful's campaign on that very same outbreak, therefore, might lead to "conflict-of-interest concerns for a Biden administration" or "create the awkward appearance of Krein profiting off his father-in-law’s policies", the media outlet notes.
"I have little doubt that the relationship to Joe Biden, particularly if he becomes president, would attract the interest of some investors," said Avik Roy, founder of an investment research firm called Roy Healthcare Research and former adviser to presidential campaigns Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio.
StartUpHealth did not respond to interview requests, Politico adds, noting that the Biden campaign “declined to make Krein or others tied to the company available for interviews”.
One campaign official reportedly stated that Krein got no formal role at the campaign, though they did acknowledge that Biden's son-in-law participated in “calls briefing Biden on coronavirus based on his experience treating patients and coordinating his hospital’s response to the outbreak”.
