A former aide to Vice President Joe Biden describes the former Delaware senator in a tell-all book as an “egomaniacal autocrat” who was “determined to manage his staff through fear.”
But the author of “The Payoff” — Jeff Connaughton, a Biden Senate staffer who is now a lobbyist — admitted to
Politico that he was deeply disillusioned with Washington and was embittered by his experience with Biden.
The vice president inspired Connaughton to enter politics, he said.
“I came to D.C. a Democrat and left a plutocrat,” he told Politico.
Connaughton served as chief of staff to former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman, who succeeded Biden. He describes his unsuccessful effort to get an amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill of 2010 that would have broken up the nation’s largest banks.
His conclusion: Big banks control both parties.
“It’s time people understand why – and how – Wall Street always wins,” Connaughton wrote in the book that came out last month.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.