By: Benyamin Davidsons

A new report by the Business Insider has provided new details about Hunter Biden’s art sales.

The first son’s novice artwork has thus far sold $1.3 million in all.  Monday’s report, which is the most details ever revealed about the sales, divulged that one of the buyers is a Democratic donor “friend’’, whom his father, President Joe Biden, named to a prestigious commission.  Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real-estate investor and philanthropist, purchased one of Hunter’s works, per sales records kept by his art dealer, the Georges Bergès Gallery of Manhattan.

Per the Business Insider’s report, the date of the sale and the amount paid for the piece is not known.  As per the NY Post, Naftali was appointed by President Biden to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in July 2022, which was about eight months after Hunter’s first art show. A Biden administration official responded to the allegation, telling Business Insider that Naftali was recommended for commission by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and that her art purchase didn’t buy her the position.

The publication also divulged that a single deep-pocketed buyer was responsible for the biggest chunk of Hunter’s art sales thus yet—having purchased 11 artworks for a total of $875,000.  The identity of that buyer was not revealed.  The Insider’s report also shared that one of the art buyers was Kevin Morris, a wealth lawyer and friend of Hunter who reportedly lent the first son about $2 million to pay off back taxes. It isn’t known if Morris was the top buyer, who purchased the bulk of the works.

Bergès is still reportedly refusing to comply with requests made by the House Oversight Committee for the names of the art buyers.  “Despite being a novice artist, Hunter Biden received exorbitant amounts of money selling his artwork, the buyers’ identities remain unknown, and you appear to be the sole record keeper of these lucrative transactions,” Rep. James Comer (R- KY),chairman of the House Oversight Committee,  wrote in a letter to Bergès in January.

This is far from the first controversy to surround Hunter’s art sales.  As previously reported by the NY Post, at his first show, in Hollywood, Hunter had sold five prints for $75,000 each, netting $375,000.  That show drew criticism over the fact that Eric Garcetti, President Biden’s embattled nominee for US ambassador to India, had been in attendance. Garcetti, who faced sexual harassment claims, was finally confirmed for the position by the Senate in March after the White House fought for him for about two years.

Republicans in congress are probing Hunter Biden’s previous business dealings with international business partners from countries including China and Ukraine, where his father had influence as vice president of the U.S.  They have also voiced unease, alleging that Hunter’s art career could be a front for money laundering and/or influence-peddling.  Due to the scrutiny around Hunter’s art work, the White House had announced in 2021 that Hunter Biden’s art sales would be “anonymous”, so that in theory even he wouldn’t know the buyers, to prevent corruption.