The brother of one of President Joe Biden‘s top advisors has signed up as a client the Taiwanese manufacturer of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Jeff Richetti, whose brother Stever serves as counselor to the president, is now lobbying for Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp., according to Senate lobbying disclosure reports.
The company recently completed Phase 3 of clinical trials for its coronavirus vaccine, which has received emergency use authorization from Taiwan‘s Food and Drug Administration but is not yet an approved vaccine in the U.S. for purposes of traveling to the country.
Steve Ricchetti, l, serves as counselor to President Joe Biden. Taiwan based vaccine maker Medigen has hired lobbying firm Richetti Incorporated as it seeks approval of the vaccine for travel purposes for U.S. visitors
The firm hired Richetti’s firm, Richetti Incorporated, to work on vaccines approved for foreign travelers to the U.S., and listed Richetti’s name.
Steve Richetti helped found the firm with his brother. He is a longtime advisor served as Biden’s chief of staff when Biden served as vice president, and held senior staff posts in the Clinton administration.
The registration was posted before Christmas, and comes as the U.S. is experiencing a wave of infections, with a record 489,267 new cases on Wednesday, and an average of more than 300,000 cases a day.
Jeff Richetti previously partnered with his brother at the firm
Steve Richetti is a longtime Biden aide who served as his chief of staff when he was vice president
A health worker administers a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp. at a vaccination center in Taipei, Taiwan, on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021
Taiwan Armed Forces M60A3 main battle tanks during a military combat live-fire exercise in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. Taiwan faces increasing military pressure from China
Cases in the U.S. are up 150 per cent compared to two weeks ago.
The Richetti firm is the first lobbying group the company has hired, CNBC reported. The firm’s other clients include Amazon, Eagle Pharmaceuticals, drug company Horizon Therapeutics, San Diego-based Neurocrine Biosciences, and GlaxoSmithKline. He has said he no longer lobbies the White House.
According to OpenSecrets, the firm has been hired by a total of 15 clients this year for a total of $2.4 million.
Taiwan faces increasing military pressure from China, amid fears of a potential invasion by Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be a province. China has been conducting military exercises which Taiwan considers a deliberate provocation.
