Hunter Biden’s finances and business dealings have landed the president’s son in a heap of controversy. He’s going to court Tuesday, July 26, to plead guilty to two federal tax crimes.
Hunter Biden also allegedly received a $5 million payout from a reported bribery scheme involving a Ukrainian oil company where he served as a board member. He’s also made millions working with Chinese executives who are now accused of fraud.
The accusations are stacking up against the president’s son – and new revelations on Hunter Biden’s art sales add another layer to his questioned transactions. Hunter Biden’s artwork has been at the heart of controversy for years. His amateur paintings, listed for hundreds of thousands of dollars, debuted and sold at a New York art gallery in September 2021.
Because there had already been wide criticism over the first son’s finances, the Biden administration put an ethics plan in place over the art purchases. Part of that plan was for the gallery to conceal the names of buyers and the amount the paintings were sold for. It also called for keeping the Biden family in the dark about who bought Hunter’s art pieces.
But for the first time since the gallery’s auction two years ago, it is being reported there was some bend to those ethics rules. Business Insider has learned the identities of two buyers.
One buyer is Elizabeth Naftali, an influential Democratic donor who has since been appointed by President Biden to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
There is no known connection between her art bids and her landing the prestigious role.
But Hunter Biden, according to Business Insider sources, knew Naftali purchased his art. The art debuted in the gallery eight months prior to her appointment.
Hunter Biden sold at least $1.3 million worth of art, with one buyer purchasing 11 pieces for $875,000. Business Insider says the identity of that buyer remains a mystery.
Business Insider says the other buyer known to Hunter Biden is Kevin Morris, a wealthy lawyer who has been a financial backer of Hunter’s. Morris has also lent Hunter Biden upwards of $2 million to help him pay off back taxes, according to The New York Times.
The Business Insider report concluded that Hunter Biden knew who bought his paintings, something the White House said would not happen under its ethical standards over the art sale. Hunter learned about Naftali and Morris buying his paintings because they were his friends, according to Hunter Biden’s counsel.
The controversy behind the load of money Hunter Biden made and who paid him is a story not a lot of media outlets are reporting on. According to the Straight Arrow News Media Miss™ tool, 88% of the media outlets who are covering the art sale revelations are right-leaning.
This is considered a Media Miss for the left — meaning left-leaning news outlets, including CNN, NBC and ABC – are not reporting the story. They covered the story two years ago when the White House announced safeguards for an ethical sale, but haven’t reported on the identified buyers and their ties to the Bidens.
The finances and business dealings of the Biden family have been in question for years. A House committee investigating the family’s finances has not yet produced any evidence that incriminates President Biden. However, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this week that the committee has dug up significant claims of corruption worthy of an impeachment inquiry, which would give Congress the ability to further investigate the Biden family.
Reuters
Getty Images
Al-Qassam Brigades
Getty Images