White House, billionaire won’t say if Biden paying for Thanksgiving stay

President Biden’s aides and hedge fund big David Rubenstein aren’t saying if the commander-in-chief is covering the cost of his six-day holiday stay at Rubenstein’s Nantucket mansion — after Biden triggered ethics concerns by taking free lodging at other homes and then failing to disclose them as gifts on annual forms.

The 81-year-old president arrived Tuesday night at Rubenstein’s 13-acre compound on the Massachusetts island, with the White House tersely stating: “The First Family will stay at the home of their friend, David Rubenstein, as they have done previously.”

Administration reps did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post about whether Biden is paying. A spokesman for Rubenstein, whose net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion by Forbes, also declined to comment.

Rubenstein was a deputy domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s and is a co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity firms with investments in heavily regulated fields including healthcare, financial services, technology and aerospace.

Biden also stayed at Rubenstein’s Nantucket home with his extended family over Thanksgiving in both 2021 and 2022. It’s unclear whether he paid for those vacations.

Both Republicans and ethics experts say the trips raise concerns.

“I think the White House would really help here if they would be transparent,” said Richard Painter, an ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration and a frequent critic of both Biden and former President Donald Trump on such issues.

“I think they ought to just be clear about it. If he paid, he paid — that’s one option. If he didn’t pay, it’s a gift … and you need to disclose it,” said Painter, who ran for Congress unsuccessfully as a Democrat in 2018 and 2022.

“I don’t know why he wants to be near the seashore even though he has a nice place over in Delaware that’s good enough for stashing a Corvette and classified documents and everything else.”

Biden’s failure to pay for vacations that have been confirmed as freebies or list them as gifts on annual disclosure forms have invited Republican claims of a double standard after sustained press attention to conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ trips with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow — who had no known business before the court.

“I thought the new rules are that officials can’t accept hospitality from billionaires!” said Tom Fitton, president of conservative legal group Judicial Watch.

Mark Paoletta, a former top lawyer at the White House budget office and a longtime friend and defender of Thomas, said he was aware of efforts by Congress to get records from Rubenstein about possibly providing a 2013 Nantucket trip to then-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer — adding that those demands for information may ultimately encompass Biden’s stays.

“The media don’t care when Biden repeatedly stays for free at billionaires’ mansions, when owners are not there, and never reports it,” Paoletta fumed, adding: “It’s time for accountability.”

Paoletta added that he hopes congressional Republicans demand “all records related to Biden’s multiple stays at Rubenstein’s home” and issue subpoenas “to owners of all places Biden has stayed and not reported.”

The White House has been coy about Biden’s vacation arrangements in the past. For example, the administration claimed in August that Biden would be paying for a vacation with his family at billionaire environmental investor Tom Steyer’s Lake Tahoe mansion.

Local Nevada officials launched an investigation of Steyer for lacking a required rental permit, but abruptly dropped the probe — causing speculation that Biden wasn’t actually renting the property.

Biden’s presidential vacations with his family to Kiawah Island in South Carolina and to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands were unpaid, The Post previously confirmed.

Painter and other ethics experts insist disclosure is required if the owner is not also staying at the property and that intentional non-reporting amounts to a crime. Others maintain the law is vague enough about what constitutes “personal hospitality” to allow for such trips to be omitted even if they would seem to be gifts.

Last August, Biden and his family spent seven days at the nine-bedroom Kiawah mansion of donor Maria Allwin, whose family runs a hedge fund, after asking her to use the home, a source told The Post at the time.

“They’re not paying. They’ve never paid,” the source said, referring to Biden’s prior stays at the home during his eight-year vice presidency, which he also did not disclose on annual forms.

In late December and early January, the Biden family stayed seven days for free as “guests” at the beachfront St. Croix home of businesspeople Bill and Connie Neville, who also offered Biden their property during his vice presidency.

The home typically is a VRBO rental.

Weeks earlier, the Nevilles had attended Biden’s first state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, joining an elite cohort of about 300 guests — including powerful businesspeople and officials.