Joe Biden's cancer charity spent millions on travel, salaries and nothing on research grants, reveal tax filings
Federal filings have revealed that President-elect Joe Biden’s cancer charity spent a humongous amount on conferences and travel and nothing on research, according to a report by the New York Post. The Biden Cancer Initiative was founded in 2017 by the president-elect and his wife Jill Biden after losing their son Beau Biden to brain cancer.
According to the IRS mission statement, the charity was founded to“develop and drive implementation of solutions to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, research and care and to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes.”
However, the documents present a different picture of fund distribution within the charity. While millions were spent on salaries, travel, and conferences, nothing was spared for research.
The Bidens’ charity reportedly received $4,809,619 in contributions in fiscal years 2017 and 2018 of which $3,070,301 was spent on salaries alone. The Biden Cancer Initiative president and former Pfizer executive Gregory Simon was paid $429,850 during the 2018 fiscal year, twice the amount he received in 2017. Simon was paid $224,539 in the first year. He also headed the cancer task force under the Barack Obama administration.
Meanwhile, Danielle Carnival, the former chief of staff of Obama’s Cancer Moonshot Task Force, received $258,207 in 2018. Reports suggest that the Director of Science Policy, Director of Engagement and the Director of Communications were also paid in six figures.
The charity is said to have spent a lot on travel and conferences, while the grant distribution remained blank. Tax filings reveal that The Biden Cancer Initiative spent $56,738 on conferences and $59,356 on travel expenses in 2017, while it’s said to have shed $742,953 for conferences and $97,149 on travel in 2018. The board of directors for the charity includes NFL Sideline reporter Erin Andrews and Black Eyed Peas musician Jimmy "Taboo" Gomez, who is a cancer survivor.
The Biden Cancer Initiative’s operations were suspended in July 2019 after Biden got more involved in the 2020 presidential race. Simon told the Associated Press, “Today, we are suspending activities given our unique circumstances. We remain personally committed to the cause but at this time will have to pause efforts. We tried to power through but it became increasingly difficult to get the traction we needed to complete our mission.”
According to Daily Mail, the charity took several million in the form of direct funding, specifically for its operations. However, the money used to support the partnerships it promoted came in the form of indirect pledges. The funds reportedly “did not go directly to the nonprofit but instead has been managed by the participating companies and organizations to fund their research and work.”
According to a press release from 2017, The Biden Cancer Initiative was “born out of the Biden Foundation which will carry on its mission to build upon Vice President and Dr Biden's lifelong commitment to protect and advance the rights and opportunities of all people through educational programming and public policy analysis.”
The release added, “While its application with the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status is pending, the Biden Cancer Initiative is operating under a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the Biden Foundation.”