(PresidentialInsider.com)- President Joe Biden’s son is apparently getting some benefits that others wouldn’t get.
The Washington Post recently reported that the White House came up with an agreement that would allow the purchasers of Hunter Biden’s art sales confidential when they go to auction this fall. The Biden administration said that this move would solve any ethics concerns people may have.
Georges Berges, the art dealer for Hunter Biden, will keep all the buyers and bidders confidential even from the artist. The deal was struck between officials at the White House and the lawyers for Hunter Biden.
Berges has even agreed to reject any offers that he considers suspicious.
While Hunter Biden has never sold any art before, his paintings are expected to be sold for somewhere between $75,000 and $500,000.
The White House is trying to play off that this agreement would quell any ethics concerns. It is extremely suspicious, though, that a first-time artist would be able to sell his paintings for such high prices.
Andrew Bates, the deputy press secretary for the White House, told the Post:
“The president has established the highest ethical standards of any administration in American history, and his family’s commitment to rigorous processes like this is a prime example.”
While the Biden administration is doing its best to downplay the ridiculous agreement, others are calling them out for their outlandishness. Richard Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, said:
“The whole thing is a really bad idea. The initial reaction a lot of people are going to have is that he’s capitalizing on being the son of a president and wants people to give him a lot of money. I mean, those are awfully high prices.”
Art has historically been an easy way for governments to gain favors from other governments. Art is often very difficult to track, which provides a lot of chances for the practice to be corrupt.
For example, a foreign government could send a person to the auction to buy the art at a high price, just to try to win goodwill from Biden’s father and the entire administration.
Even a member of former President Barack Obama’s administration isn’t so keen on the whole plan. Walter Shaub, who served as Obama’s director of the Office of Government Ethics, said:
“Because we don’t know who is paying for this art, and we don’t know for sure that [Hunter Biden] knows, we have no way of monitoring whether people are buying access to the White House. What these people are paying for is Hunter Biden’s last name.”
So, two former ethics officials from both liberal and conservative presidents are both calling out this ridiculous agreement. Yet, Biden will still go along with it, allowing his son to benefit from his father’s name.
Let’s just all hope that there isn’t any foreign government influence that buys Hunter’s art.
