News/Commentary

Hunter’s art buyers unmasked: Dem donor who Joe appointed to prestigious commission. Pay-to-play?

July 25, 2023 | | Print Article

In what gives the appearance of more “pay-to-play” at work in the Biden administration, a Democratic donor “friend” evidently bought some of Hunter Biden’s artwork.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

The first son’s art collection has tallied up at least $1.3 million in purchases to date.

A report released on Monday shows that Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real-estate investor, socialite, and philanthropist, was one of the buyers of the art, according to Business Insider. The media outlet cited sales records kept by his art dealer, the Georges Bergès Gallery of Manhattan.

She also just happens to be a major Democratic donor and a “friend” of the Bidens. Hirsh Naftali contributed $13,414 to the Biden campaign and $29,700 to the Democratic National Campaign Committee in 2023, according to the media outlet.

Coincidentally, she was appointed to the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in July 2022. For those keeping score, that was about eight months after Hunter Biden’s first art show in Hollywood. It is unknown exactly when Hirsh Naftali purchased Hunter Biden’s artwork or how she paid for it.

According to a Biden administration official, Hirsh Naftali was recommended for the select position by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) They claim she did not buy her way into the appointment via Hunter Biden’s art, according to Business Insider.

Kedric Payne, who is the general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, remarked that the question of whether the Hirsh Naftali appointment was an ethics violation depended on the timing of her purchase and whether the art was purchased at fair market prices, or for substantially more, in which case it could be considered a gift.

“Legally, you might not have a problem,” he noted to Business Insider. “But with the appearance, it’s a lot to try and explain.”

The media outlet is also reporting that the majority of Hunter Biden’s artwork that he created while recovering from his addiction to drugs went to one mystery buyer who had plenty of cash to sling around. He bought 11 of the first son’s artworks for a total of $875,000.

Hunter Biden’s “sugar brother” Kevin Morris is a wealth attorney that lent him approximately $2 million to pay off back taxes owed. It’s unknown if Morris is the mystery buyer but he certainly is a prime suspect.

The art gallery has refused to cooperate with House Oversight Committee requests to reveal the name of those who have purchased Hunter Biden’s art.

The New York Post previously reported that Hunter Biden sold five of his prints for $75,000 each.

That sale stirred up ethics concerns that are still swirling to this day. House Republicans are digging into Hunter Biden’s business dealings that involved China and Ukraine while Joe Biden was still vice president. They are wondering if Hunter Biden’s artwork is an avenue for influence-peddling and money laundering. So far, they have been stonewalled while looking into the art dealings.

In 2021, the White House announced that the art sales would remain “anonymous” to prevent corruption. It may have done the exact opposite of that claim.

“We still do not know and will not know who purchases any paintings,” then-White House Press secretary Jen Psaki commented at the time.

Ethics experts were not impressed and mocked the so-called anonymity of Hunter Biden’s art buyers.

Richard Painter, who was President George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer, remarked at the time, “Buyers buy artwork to hang on the wall, not put in a closet,” which would make anonymity virtually impossible to maintain.

Even Walter Shaub, who was the head of the Office of Government Ethics under President Obama, said the anonymous art sales didn’t pass the smell test in 2021.

“This royally sucks,” he tweeted in July 2021. “I’m disgusted. A lot of us worked hard to tee him up to restore ethics to government and believed the promises. This is a real ‘f*** you’ to us — and government ethics.”

He told CNN that the art world is “an industry that’s notorious for money laundering.”

Twitter users are absolutely not surprised:

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