First son Hunter Biden’s New York City art dealer Georges Berges is calling on Congress to give his famous client a break after getting a series of demands for information from House Republicans.
Berges, whose eponymous SoHo gallery reps the 52-year-old Hunter, has ignored three letters from incoming House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) asking for the names of art buyers and details of communications with the White House.
“My goal has always been to discover and work with artists that I think are important culturally and historically,” Berges said. “Hunter Biden is all of those things.”
“His future is art and we are all richer because of it,” Berges added. “I just hope that we don’t politicize something that is positive and good.”
Georges Berges, left, poses with first son Hunter Biden.
Berges calls Hunter Biden’s art “culturally and historically” important.
Berges’ gallery recently unveiled a new Hunter Biden original priced at $225,000 — after asking as much as $500,000 for other works.
Berges said he ignored a call from Comer’s staff on Dec. 1 after the soon-to-be committee chairman sent his most recent letter Nov. 17 citing “serious ethical concerns” about the president’s son seeking top dollar for beginner works. Comer’s office said, however, that there’s no record of a staff member attempting to call.
House Republicans, including Comer and incoming Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), are vowing to use subpoena powers next year to get to the bottom of Joe Biden’s involvement with his family’s alleged influence-peddling businesses, which could force Berges to divulge relevant records.
The White House said last year that Hunter Biden’s art sales would be “anonymous” to prevent corruption, to the incredulity of ethics experts.
The first son has sought as much as $500,000 for his artworks.
“It is important that we learn who has purchased Hunter Biden’s artwork and whether the purchasers intended to benefit from President Biden’s elected office,” Comer wrote in his most recent letter to Berges.
“When the son of the sitting President of the United States is the recipient of such high-dollar sums with no accountability or oversight, it raises concerns that the buyers may be purchasing the pieces with the intent of gaining favor with the Biden family.”
Comer noted that Berges had “failed to respond” to earlier letters sent on Sept. 7 and Sept. 22.
The White House claims Hunter and Joe Biden won’t know who buys the art.
Some art critics praise Hunter Biden’s art. Skeptics say its price is suspicious.
“For decades, the Biden family has profited from Joe Biden’s positions of public trust,” Comer wrote in his most recent missive.
“The evidence surrounding Hunter Biden’s past foreign business transactions does not foster confidence in the propriety of your gallery’s purportedly anonymous art sales. The American people deserve transparency into the high-dollar transactions and the buyers of Hunter Biden’s art.”
Hunter, a recovering crack cocaine addict, received at least $375,000 last year for five prints displayed at a Hollywood art show attended by his father’s embattled nominee to be …….