AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
The handiwork of Hunter Biden, the 53-year-old son of President Joe Biden who began a lucrative career as an artist after his father’s election to the White House, was purchased by a Democratic donor and Biden commission appointee, according to a new report from Business Insider.
Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Democratic donor who hosted a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris last year, purchased Biden’s paintings, which debuted at extraordinarily high prices sometimes stretching up to and well past six figures in 2021. Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell confirmed that Biden was aware that Hirsh Naftali had bought some of his paintings because she is friends with Biden and had told him as much.
According to the report, Hirsh Naftali was appointed to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in July 2022, and “it is unclear whether Hirsh’s purchase of Hunter Biden’s artwork occurred before or after that appointment.”
Both the Biden White House and Hunter Biden’s legal team did not offer any clarity on that timeline when asked by Business Insider, but an administration official claimed that Hirsh Naftali had been recommended by Nancy Pelosi.
Hunter Biden had previously boasted that he could help those who wanted to be appointed to such positions in 2015, during Barack Obama’s administration.
The report comes as House Republicans’ allegations against the Bidens multiply. President Biden has long claimed not to speak with his son about his overseas business ventures, but recent revelations have revealed that Hunter Biden threatened one foreign business associate with his father’s wrath.
Devon Archer, a former close friend and business partner of Hunter Biden’s is expected to soon testify before the House Oversight Committee, where the New York Post reports that he will say Hunter Biden would call his father during business meetings.
White House spokesman Ian Sams told Business Insider that “Hunter Biden is a private citizen who is entitled to have his own career as an artist.”
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