(New York Post) Hunter Biden’s Manhattan art dealer is refusing to provide any information about the buyers of the first son’s paintings to a congressional committee investigating the Biden family’s business dealings, The Post has learned.
In a Feb. 6 letter to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, a lawyer for art dealer Georges Berges raises “concerns” about complying with the committee’s demands to see records about clients who have purchased Hunter’s work.
Refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could result in a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in prison.
The committee, which is probing President Biden’s international and domestic business dealings, is set to begin hearings Wednesday.
The Post has seen the letter from attorney William Pittard, who represents Berges and Georges Berges Galleries LLC. It notes that providing information about the buyers would violate White House rules that were set up specifically to deal with the sale of Hunter Biden’s artwork in 2021.
Hunter Biden’s Manhattan art dealer is refusing to provide information about buyers to a congressional committee investigating the Biden family’s business dealings.Stephen Yang
A lawyer for art dealer Georges Berges (right) raises “concerns” about complying with the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s demands to see records about clients who have purchased Hunter’s (left) artwork.Courtesy of Georges Berges
“Providing the documents and information requested in your letter seemingly would defeat the efforts of Mr. Biden and the White House to avoid the ‘serious ethics concerns’ that you raise,” writes Pittard, citing a July 2021 press briefing in which then-press secretary Jen Psaki laid out the ground rules for the sale of the art.
Psaki noted that one of the “safeguards” included maintaining the confidentiality of the buyers “because if the White House was not aware of those buyers, it would seem impossible for the administration to grant the buyers any favors based on the purchases,” Pittard notes.
“In light of these considerations, providing the documents and information requested in
your letter seemingly would defeat the efforts of Mr. Biden and the White House to avoid the ‘serious ethics concerns’ that you raise,” writes Pittard. “Mr. Bergès hopes that you and Mr. Biden can resolve that tension.”
Hunter is a self-taught artist.
The letter is in response to a Jan. 25 request from the committee.
