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Federal filings: Biden cancer charity spent no money on research grants but millions on salaries

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The New York Post on Saturday reported that a cancer charity founded by Joe Biden has reportedly not given out any money for research, federal filings reveal. Rather, most of its money from donations was spent on staffers’ salaries.

This reporter asked the Biden campaign for an immediate comment but did not receive a response.

The former Vice President and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, launched the Biden Cancer Initiative in 2017 with its stated purpose 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.” Biden’s eldest son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, died in 2015 after his battle with brain cancer.

While the charity spent no money on giving out grants in its first two years, it shelled out millions of dollars on the salaries of its aides that it hired from Washington, DC.

During fiscal years 2017 and 2018, the charity received $4,809,619 in contributions and spent $3,070,301 on payroll throughout the same two-year period. Gregory Simon, who heads the organization, got $429,850 in fiscal year 2018, the charity’s most recent federal tax filings show.

Under President Barack Obama’s administration, Simon, who is also a former Pfizer executive and longtime health care lobbyist, spearheaded the White House’s cancer task force. His salary roughly doubled in size from the $224,539 that he made in fiscal year 2017, tax filings detail.

According to The Post, Simon had said that the primary purpose of the charity was to not give out grants, and that its goal was to find ways to accelerate treatment for all, regardless of their economic or cultural backgrounds.

Obama’s former chief of staff for his Cancer Moonshot Task Force, Danielle Carnival, raked in $258,207 in 2018.

According to the federal tax filings, the BCI spent $56,738 on conferences and $59,356 on travel during the same year. The travel expenditure increased to $97,149, while the charity spent $742,953 on conferences, the year after.

Biden was appointed as head of the cancer task force after the 2015 death of his son Beau and launched the BCI after leaving office, seeking to continue that task force’s efforts.

Biden and his wife stepped down from the organization after a couple years when he decided to run for president and “paused” the group’s operations. After stepping down, Simon said in a 2019 interview with the Associated Press that the charity lost its edge. The charity is still active, according to the IRS.

The Post said that, last week, neither Simon nor Biden could be reached for comment.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

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Over 100 Migrants Cross Border Hours After Trump’s Election Win and Caravan of 3,000 Want to Cross Before Inauguration

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A new migrant caravan traveling through Mexico of approximately 3,000 migrants who departed from Tapachula, a southern Mexican city near the Guatemalan border, are headed towards the border in hopes of crossing before January. The caravan is one of many examples of the latest influx of migrants aiming to enter the United States before changes in U.S. immigration policies under Trump’s incoming administration.

Just two hours after President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 election on a pledge to end illegal immigration, over 100 migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border near Eagle Pass, Texas. The group, consisting primarily of individuals from Central and South America, also included two migrants from Africa and about a dozen unaccompanied minors, among them two young brothers, reports ADN America. They crossed the Rio Grande River and were quickly intercepted by U.S. Border Patrol agents, who transported them by bus for processing.

Agents provided blankets to the children to ensure their safety, as night temperatures can dip in the region. Current policies under the Biden administration allow unaccompanied minors to seek asylum, a measure introduced earlier this year.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly emphasized his intention to secure the southern border and implement what he calls a “historic” mass deportation effort aimed at undocumented individuals. In his victory speech on Wednesday morning, he promised to “fix” and “seal” U.S. borders, reinforcing his commitment to lawful immigration pathways. “We will make sure those who come to America do so legally,” he declared.

During President Joe Biden’s administration, migrant encounters at the U.S. border reached record highs. Federal data reveals over 10 million total interceptions, with the fiscal year from October 2021 to September 2022 seeing the largest annual surge, totaling over 2.2 million crossings. As the Trump administration prepares to take office, expectations are high for swift policy changes aimed at addressing the migration crisis.

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