Hunter Biden’s art gallery dealer told House investigators that the president’s son initially requested to know who bought his art, raising questions about White House statements about an ethics agreement surrounding the earnings, according to a transcript of the interview reviewed by CNN.
Georges Bergés testified that his initial 2020 contract with the president’s son included a rare provision to disclose the buyers of his art. But, Bergés said in practice, he never shared the names of Biden’s art buyers, and the president’s son never pushed him to know who the buyers were. Then, the president’s son initiated a second contract where the provision was officially taken out in September 2021, according to the testimony.
It does raise questions on the timeline of when the White House said ethical safeguards around Biden’s art were put in place and when the White House got involved. The White House repeatedly stressed that ethical safeguards were put in place throughout the summer of 2021, but Bergés’ testimony indicates that those safeguards were not initially in place and that the change to Hunter Biden’s contract was not made official until that September.
“After careful consideration, a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards,” then-press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on July 9, 2021.
The next month, Psaki told reporters, “We have spoken extensively to the arrangements, which are not White House arrangements; they’re arrangements between Hunter Biden’s representatives and ones that we, certainly, were made aware of.”
Bergés said he never had any contact with the White House in negotiating the ethics agreement and stressed that the president had no involvement in the selling or profits of his son’s artwork. However, Republicans have taken…
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