Shaub, now a senior fellow at the Project on Government Oversight watchdog, commented: “You hear people trying to justify it by saying, ‘Well, of course, he’s famous, he’s the president’s son,’ but that’s the exact problem because he may not be in public office and there may be no laws that apply to him but he is a citizen whose father happens to be the leader of the country and so he has a patriotic duty to not run around trying to capitalise on that relationship. Just as President Jimmy Carter’s younger brother marketed and sold “Billy Beer” in 1977, Hunter faces accusations that he is cashing in. The sale of his work, however, appears to be cutting through as a media narrative in a way that lurid rightwing conspiracy theories never did. I would be amazed, you know, if my art had sold at, um, you know, for $10.”
In July he told the Nota Bene: This Week in the Art World podcast that art prices are “completely subjective”, insisting: “Look, man, I never set my prices – what my art was going to cost, what it costs or how much it would be priced at. I would be amazed, you know, if my art had sold at, um, you know, for $10 Hunter Biden Hunter said in a New York Times interview last year that he took it up as a hobby during his recovery from addiction and found solace in art when he was at the centre of Trump’s 2019 impeachment trial. Again, he did not inflict political damage on his father as some feared.īut his latest pursuit, painting, could prove more complicated. Photograph: Sipa US/AlamyĮarlier this year Hunter published a memoir in which he detailed his struggle with alcoholism and drug abuse and denied wrongdoing in joining the board of Burisma, a gas company in Ukraine, where he earned more than $50,000 a month from 2014 to 2019. An agreement stipulates that only the gallery will know the identity of purchasers. The sale of Hunter Biden’s art is being handled by the George Bergès Gallery in Soho, New York. Donald Trump’s attempts to weaponise Hunter’s problems for political gain in the 2020 presidential election fell flat. There is simply no way anybody paid $75,000 for anything other than his name.”īiden has always been a fierce defender of Hunter, 51, who has been dogged by controversies for years and whose tax affairs are currently under investigation by the justice department.
The man has never sold a piece of art before, has never even juried into a community centre art show, but suddenly he’s selling art at fantastical prices. “We’ve got a family member clearly trading on his father’s name.
“Merely following the incredibly weak ethics rules that we have doesn’t win you any points and the legalistic approach blinds you to obvious commonsense problems. “I find it deeply troubling, ” said Walter Shaub, who was director of the Office of Government Ethics under President Barack Obama. They also accuse Hunter of trading on his father’s name and position in a manner that, while not illegal, flouts ethical norms. Hunter Biden’s potentially lucrative new career – he is represented by the Georges Bergès Gallery in New York, which credits him with “powerful and impactful paintings ranging from photogenic to mixed media to the abstract” – is presenting ethical headaches for a White House that has promised to lead by example.Įxperts have raised alarms that individuals might buy the artworks – expected to fetch between $75,000 and $500,000 – to try to curry favor and gain influence with Joe Biden.
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