In a recent letter requesting an interview with producer Lanette Phillips, Republicans in the House including Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (Ohio) resorted to criticizing artwork produced by Hunter Biden, a son of the current president.
The younger Biden has been a central focus for Republicans amid an ongoing impeachment inquiry targeting the president. They’ve tried to connect Joe Biden to ostensible corruption involving his son and others, falling short so far. The Republican outreach to Phillips relates most directly to Hunter Biden’s time in the arts, amid which he’s represented by a gallery led by Georges Bergès. The letter from Jordan and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) cites alleged details crediting Phillips with introducing Hunter to Bergès and Kevin Morris, an associate of Hunter who’s also purchased some of his art.
The evident idea is that Hunter Biden’s artistic endeavors could be a front for what Republicans have characterized as influence peddling.
“The Committees must understand the nature of Hunter Biden’s art endeavor. Indeed, the high-dollar sales of paintings by a novice like Hunter Biden raise considerable suspicion given his years of peddling access to his father and capitalizing on the Biden name,” the Republicans wrote. “For example, the Committees seek to understand whether Naftali’s presidential appointment was in any way influenced by her purchase of Hunter Biden’s artwork. The Committees believe that you are in a position to shed light on that and other issues, given that you introduced Naftali to Bergès.”
Contemporary art is routinely sold for large sums such as those the Republicans also cited for the younger Biden’s work. “Naftali” refers to Elizabeth Naftali, who also purchased some of Hunter’s art, separately receiving an unpaid role on a federal commission — the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
Republicans, meanwhile, already heard from Bergès, who seemingly denied that the president was meaningfully close to Hunter Biden’s art sales. “Hunter Biden made art that Bergès sold in his gallery, and President Biden had no knowledge of, or role in, these art sales,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, recounted.
