The White House is refusing to provide transparency, or any information, on Hunter Biden’s art that has reportedly been sold to anonymous top-dollar buyers for his amateur work in 2021.
Despite Hunter’s reported sales to anonymous buyers of at least five pieces of art for $75,000 each, the White House declined to comment on who those individuals are and what protocols, if any, are in place to ensure purchasers are not connected to foreign nations or nationals seeking to influence the administration. The White House also refused to comment on whether the administration is participating in the vetting of buyers of Hunter’s art.
The White House has previously defended Hunter’s ability to sell art to anonymous buyers for up to $500,000. The administration has claimed Hunter’s art scheme is protected by a “veil of secrecy.”
Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (Visar Kryeziu/AP)
“I can tell you that after careful consideration, a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards,” then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki stated. “He has the right to pursue an artistic career just like any child of the president has the right to pursue a career.”
Hunter held an art exhibit in the fall of 2021 and had a second exhibit reportedly scheduled for the spring of 2022. But no reports of a second art exhibit have surfaced.
Hunter Biden painting (Hunter Biden)
In December of 2021, the White House produced a report called the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, which explored ways “government officials abuse public power for private gain.” The report specifically focused on the art industry as a “market” where financial crimes occur, yet the report did not mention the president’s scandal-scarred son’s involvement in the industry.
The markets for art and antiquities — and the market participants who facilitate transactions — are especially vulnerable to a range of financial crimes. Built-in opacity, lack of stable and predictable pricing, and inherent cross-border transportability of goods sold, make the market optimal for illicit value transfer, sanctions evasion, and corruption.
Hunter Biden with his artwork. (ABC News/screenshot)
Breitbart News senior contributor and Profiles in Corruption author Peter Schweizer has stated Hunter’s entire art scheme is “absurd.”
“The only way to address these issues is with greater transparency — not less,” he told Breitbart News. “Their proposed solution is greater secrecy, not transparency. And they are essentially saying, ‘Trust Us.’ Joe and Hunter Biden’s track record on such matters gives us no reason to trust them.”
According to the New York Times, Hunter’s artwork has been hung in first lady Jill Biden’s office in the White House. It is unknown if the piece of art is displayed to promote Hunter’s bona fides as a novice artist, or if the display is meant to promote his art to those who may meet with Jill Biden in her office.
“Mom and Dad and Melissa, who think everything I do should be put in the National Gallery,” Hunter said of the presidential family’s opinion during an art podcast.
“That’s what it’s about,” Hunter continued about reaching a wider audience. “Is to have the courage to kinda go out there and do that, and, you know, I could just stay in my studio and paint for myself, and, ahhh, and, and, and I ultimately do do that.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.