President-elect Joe Biden speaks ahead of the holidays at the Queen Theater on December 22, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden spoke ahead of the Christmas break and called the $ 900 billion coronavirus aid bill passed by Congress Monday, insisting on further economic relief after the inauguration.
Joshua Roberts | Getty Images
The brother of one of President-elect Joe Biden’s closest advisers has just picked up Amazon as a new customer.
Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of Biden White House councilor Steve Ricchetti, recently secured a lobbying contract with Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud platform and a subsidiary of the tech giant, according to a new outreach report lobbies.
The report shows that Ricchetti signed up to put pressure on Amazon Web Services on November 13, just a week after Biden was projected to defeat President Donald Trump. Ethics lawyers previously told CNBC that Steve Ricchetti, who was also a lobbyist more than a decade ago, might have to reconsider issues that could affect his brother’s clients.
One person familiar with the sibling relationship said they kept their professional life completely separate and that Jeff Ricchetti would never pressure Steve Ricchetti.
“Jeff has not lobbied his brother or will ever do so on behalf of any of his clients, and Steve has had no role in his brother’s business since he sold his stake in the firm in 2012,” he said. tell the source on CNBC. “Steve and Jeff keep their professional activities clearly separate.” This person has rejected the name because the relationship is private.
Biden’s stance on Amazon has included calls for the company to start paying its taxes.
“I don’t think any company, no matter how great they are, the Lord Almighty, should absolutely be in a position where they don’t pay taxes and earn billions and billions of dollars, No. 1,” Biden said during an interview with “Squawk Box” in May.
The disclosure report shows that Jeff Ricchetti will put pressure on Amazon on issues related to the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of the CARES Act. It looks like Amazon is about to expand its healthcare business known as Amazon Care.
Amazon’s customer is Ricchetti’s latest, as Biden was the projected winner of the 2020 election.
Ricchetti also signed up to pressure Evofem Biosciences on November 15, days after he officially started working at Amazon. Ricchetti will focus on “federal health policies regarding coverage for contraceptive services,” for Evofem, according to the pressure release report.
For Amazon, it’s the last step to start quietly preparing for Biden’s incoming administration.
Reuters reported that two officials from the e-commerce company are working on the Biden agency review team. According to reports, Amazon executives are pressuring their allies to get positions within the Biden administration.
During the Trump administration, Amazon hired people close to the president for pressure work. One such lobbyist was Jeff Miller, a fundraiser for the Trump campaign.
Amazon and Jeff Ricchetti did not return requests for CNBC comments.