The White House’s communications strategy of dismissing criticism regarding Hunter Biden is not deterring interest in the first son.
The younger Biden’s debut art show in Los Angeles this month amplified ethics questions — as has his delay in divesting from a company with Chinese Communist Party ties. And with another exhibition in New York next spring, the issues he dredges up are poised to be a persistent problem for his father’s administration.
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It is “inexcusable” that Hunter Biden “keeps playing loose with ethics” as first son, according to Craig Holman of liberal consumer rights advocacy group and think tank Public Citizen.
While Hunter Biden is not subject to federal government ethics rules, Holman warned he is “endangering his father’s legacy” by not adhering to “reasonable restrictions on his behavior.”
“But that doesn’t seem to be an important consideration for Hunter,” Holman told the Washington Examiner.
President Joe Biden could “publicly rebuke” his son to minimize the political headaches, according to Holman. “However, from what I know of Joe, that is not likely to happen,” he said.
The White House has been deflecting or downplaying concerns about Hunter Biden since the start of the administration when the president promoted his son’s memoir during his pre-Super Bowl interview. But the tactic has not stopped Hunter Biden from causing complications for his father as he did during the 2020 campaign.
The president was needled last week regarding the optics of reports that his self-taught artist son sold five art prints, valued at $75,000 each, before his Oct. 1 show at Hollywood’s famous Milk Studios. The president’s response was inaudible from beneath his mask after poor planning meant he encountered a pack of reporters and TV crews as he walked through the Rose Garden en route to Marine One on the South Lawn.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had been asked earlier in the week about photos of Hunter Biden hobnobbing with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is the president’s nominee to become the U.S. ambassador to Japan, at the show. Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, California, was also snapped at the 200-person event.
Hunter Biden was not going to attend his own shows to avoid possible conflicts of interests with buyers seeking access to the president. His gallerist Georges Berges later said he would attend but would not speak with guests regarding the cost of his work. Buyers and the prices they paid are to remain secret, and higher-than-anticipated offers are to be rejected.
“We were very transparent about what recommendations were made to the gallerist, and I would again point you to them,” Psaki told reporters.
Psaki had been pressed two days prior regarding whether Hunter Biden still held a 10% stake in Bohai Harvest RST Equity Investment Fund Management Company.
BHR, controlled by the state-run Bank of China, has invested in controversial Chinese businesses, including Megvii, which the United States sanctioned in 2019 for its alleged involvement in CCP repression. It has also supported the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, which the U.S. blacklisted in 2019 after it allegedly tried to acquire U.S. nuclear technology for Chinese military use.
“He’s been working to wind that down. Beyond that, I would talk to his representatives,” Psaki said.
For ethics expert Steven Mintz, Hunter Biden’s run-ins were exacerbated by his father’s promise to lead a transparent administration after four years of former President Donald Trump.
“The public has a right to know who purchases the artwork to determine whether there were any favors given to the buyers in return or whether they are expecting something in return for the purchase,” he said. “The public has a right to know who bought the artwork and what they paid for it, and then make their own judgment about whether the appearance of a conflict exists.”
The California Polytechnic State University professor emeritus added: “The bottom line is transparency is what is needed in transactions such as Hunter Biden’s artwork.”
Hunter Biden’s reaction to the scrutiny has been more pointed than Psaki’s. “F**k ’em,” he told art podcast Nota Bene in July after some of his pieces were valued at $500,000. “Look, man, I never set my prices — what my art was going to cost, what it costs or how much it would be priced at. I would be amazed, you know, if my art had sold … for $10.”
Trump last year attacked the president over his son’s business dealings and turbulent personal life, including his alcohol and drug addiction. Trump’s interest in Hunter Biden’s $50,000-a-month role on Ukrainian energy company Burisma’s board, while his father was vice president and managing policy in the region, resulted in his first impeachment by House Democrats. But the FBI is also investigating Hunter Biden’s taxes after red flags were raised.
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The president welcomed another tabloid fodder-prone family member on Monday: Nephew Cuffe Biden Owens married former Real Housewives of Orange County star Meghan O’Toole King at the home of his mother, the president’s sister, Valerie and her husband Jack Owens. King was previously married to retired professional baseball player Jim Edmonds.
