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Thanks for this. I understand the complexity a bit better. I wish I knew how to psychoanalyze her, to understand where she’s coming from, but my liberal arts degree was in English, not Psych. The take away from my conversation should be that the University is moving forward with a center on their own, understanding current restrictions.

Joshua Alcorn
302/295.8340 (office)
302/598.1885 (cell)
josh@beaubiden.com


On Apr 3, 2014, at 4:48 PM, Hunter Biden <hbiden@rosemontseneca.com> wrote:

> Hey buddy. I've spoken to her at length about this both before she took the job and after and explained and re-explained that we (Bidens) and Biden current staff cannot (orders of WH counsel and Ron) be directly involved in the project. UD in fact cannot explicitly state that the center will be the Biden center. I had the first discussion regarding this in December of 2008 w/ Harker (Beiglighter announced his departure for spring 2015). It is the opinion of WH counsel that we cannot directly raise money for this until JRB makes a decision regarding 2016. I've told M this several times and Harker has been aware of the constraints through direct discussions and written opinions with WH counsel. Anyway, my point is that I worry that M thinks we can somehow skirt around the WH counsel's opinion. We can't- Ron's last words to me re this were -- "if you don't mind being subpoenaed to testify before a congressional investigation then go ahead and keep talking about it." He's so sweet. The thing that upsets me a little is that M clearly is out there saying "hey I'm doing all this work and no one from the family is helping." She knows why we can't and I don't understand why she continues to feel somehow slighted.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Apr 3, 2014, at 8:12 PM, Joshua Alcorn <josh@beaubiden.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Beau, Hunter,
>>
>> I had lunch a few weeks back with Michele Smith. One of the things we discussed was the proposed institute at UD. Harker has committed himself to the project - he will be at UD for at least the next 3 years, and would like this to be part of his legacy. Michele wasn’t sure how much longer Ralph Begleitter will be running the Center for Political Communication. He may step aside in the next few years.
>>
>> I wanted to let you know that the idea most recently floated was for an institute “for the study of the vice presidency” with the hopes of engaging as many people as possible in the project in the initial phase and then narrowing the focus in two years.
>>
>> Michele has spent a lot of time working through the various relationships at UD. She’s definitely a good advocate. But it’s a tireless job, and the relationships there are, well, messy, a times. Would one of you be willing to call her, say hello, thank her and get her read out on where things stand?
>>
>> Michele Smith: (202) 744-2401
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Josh
>>
>> Joshua Alcorn
>> 302/295.8340 (office)
>> 302/598.1885 (cell)
>> josh@beaubiden.com
>>
>>
>>
>>