The LA Times is reporting that Senator Joe Biden’s family has deep business ties with the Senator’s largest donor, Illinois law firm SimmonsCooper.

From the LA Times Blog:

One of the senator’s sons — Hunter, a Washington lobbyist — and the senator’s brother, James –received a $1 million investment in their purchase of a hedge fund company from the senator’s largest political donor, an Illinois law firm, SimmonsCooper. The brother and the son subsequently repaid the $1 million to the law firm, which specializes in representing asbestos victims.

From the full story

In addition to providing financing for the hedge fund deal, SimmonsCooper picked the law firm of another of Biden’s sons, Beau, to work with it on dozens of asbestos cases in Delaware. “It was only natural that we worked with my friend Beau Biden and his firm,” said Jeffrey Cooper, former managing partner of SimmonsCooper.

And SimmonsCooper employees have donated about $200,000 to Biden’s campaign efforts since 2001, making the firm his No. 1 donor. All told, SimmonsCooper employees provided much more money to Biden than to any other senator during that period, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

His family’s financial dealings could be troublesome for Biden, who tonight becomes part of a Democratic presidential ticket that has vowed to reform Washington’s traditional money culture.