- White House helped broker deal to shield the president’s son from information about who is buying his work
- White House cited arrangement as part of ‘rigorous process’ on ethics
- Former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub called the up-to-$500k prices for his artwork ‘grotesquely inflated’
- The exhibition creates a ‘risk of influence-seekers funneling money to the Biden family’, he added
- Hunter will be displaying and selling his artwork in New York City this fall
- His art dealer Georges Berges has valued the work at between $75K and $500K
- All sales will be kept confidential, despite his alleged corruption over prior business deals in Ukraine and China
The White House helped broker the deal that would allow buyers of Hunter Biden’s paintings to remain confidential, despite widespread concerns it could lead to bribery and influence peddling, it was revealed on Thursday.
The plan will allow Hunter Biden to forge ahead with his new career as an artist after a career change from a high-paid consultant on international deals, by also shielding him from the identities of those who purchase his pricey works.
The deal came about after Biden administration staffers reached out to Hunter’s lawyers to forge a plan intended to ‘avoid’ ethics concerns and let the president’s son pursue his new career.
But there are still questions over how the administration and his lawyers will stop individual buyers from reaching out to Hunter or someone revealing how much one of his paintings has been purchased for.
The idea is avoid a situation where he knew who was buying his work so he might be in the position to do them a favor – although it still provides an opportunity for unidentified individuals to shovel large sums to the president’s son as he battles high living costs and legal fees.