Joe and Hunter’s protests wear thin
Next up in the ever-fascinating (in the morbid sense of “what will these folks be stupid enough to do NEXT?” sense) saga of Joe and Hunter-boi, Business Insider reports on the identities of some of the recipients of Hunter’s “artwork”.
On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden pledged that there would be an “absolute wall” between his official duties and his family’s private business interests.
Same thing Trump promised, and when it even appeared he broke that promise, the Dems squealed, clutched their pearls, and wee’ed themselves, right?
The messaging seemed to suggest that Hunter Biden’s art patrons came from a rarified universe of collectors who had nothing to do with the hurly (sic) burly of politics.
That buyer, Insider can reveal, is Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real estate investor and philanthropist. Hirsh Naftali is influential in California Democratic circles and is a significant Democratic donor who has given $13,414 to the Biden campaign and $29,700 to the Democratic National Campaign Committee this year. In 2022, she hosted a fundraiser headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris.
In July 2022, eight months after Hunter Biden’s first art opening, Joe Biden announced Hirsh Naftali’s appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
An administration official told Insider that her appointment had been recommended to Biden by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad is a public agency charged with preserving European historical sites. In the past, Hunter Biden has privately suggested that he could arrange to have friends seated on the commission.
Now, records have not shown whether she bought before or after her appointment, so let’s not get TOO excited. Yet.
Internal Georges Bergès Gallery documents obtained by Insider, a selection of which are published below, show that a single buyer purchased 11 Hunter Biden artworks for a total of $875,000. A gallery contract with Hunter Biden’s handwritten edits show him excluding the sales of NFTs from the gallery’s 40 percent commission.
Hmm… if only a couple of pics buys a commission seat, wonder what 875 large buys you? They say in the article that sales under $100,000 are “subjective” – meaning they don’t draw the attention of the million-dollar folks. Sounds a lot like keeping your bank transactions $9,000 and below to keep them under the $10K reporting limit, though, doesn’t it? But back to the first lady:
Kedric Payne, general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, said that the question of whether the Hirsh Naftali appointment was an ethics violation depended on both the timing of her purchase and whether the art was purchased at fair market prices, or for substantially more, in which case it could be considered a gift.
“Legally, you might not have a problem,” he said. “But with the appearance, it’s a lot to try and explain.”
Remember when Joe was asked if he had been present at Hunter’s infamous ‘shakedown’ call with Henry Zhao and he shouted “No!”?
During the July 30, 2017, discussion, Hunter Biden told Zhao, “I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” according to the message provided by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, who oversaw the agency’s investigation of Hunter.
Shapley says Joe was there, Joe says he was not. Well, seems a photograph on Hunter’s laptop shows Hunter in Joe’s Corvette that day at Joe’s house when Joe was documented there.
Calm down, ya filthy beasts – one of them is a Biden niece and is only 12. Down boy!
However, a June 29 statement released by White House spokesperson from the White House Counsel’s Office Ian Sams deviates from the president’s previous denials, according to Republicans.
“As we have said many times before, the president was not in business with his son,” Sams stated.
Does that seem carefully phrased to you too? Not in business… just happened to make a few hundred K on the side…right.
Category: 2020 Election, Biden, None, Politics
Hunter’s art scam is just another version of book sales used by a least a few politicians. Jim Wright comes to mind using bulk book sales to add to his speaking fees.
Don’t overlook the actions of this “wise Latina”:
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-sotomayor-book-sales-ethics-colleges-b2cb93493f927f995829762cb8338c02
At least when you have somebody ghost write a book for you, You get a book even if it is meaningless drivel. When Hunter Biden spits paint through a straw, All you get is a little sample of his DNA. Everybody already has that, some more than others but you know everybody’s got some.
I just assumed that him being an “artist” was as legitimate as him being an “energy executive”. Just another way for The Biden Crime Family to keep the money flowing. I want to know how many prints did Zelensky buy?
Imagine if Eric or Don Jr. started selling the exact same “art”?
That could never be allowed to happen. Trump-son art deals? Never! The DOJ would be tripping all over themselves investigating Eric and Don Jr. to find out how deep the conspiracy is and how much corruption is at play.
Hunter Biden, though? Nah, he’s just a regular guy with normal people problems like drugs, gun crimes, and womanizing ways. His art is timeless and worth every penny (and then some) people paid for it. One day, I expect, it will be the centerpiece at many an art gallery and prominently displayed in the Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. Presidential Center.
I’m just a nobody living outside a small town down South. Even when I wore the uniform, I was an order-taking mid-level Senior NCO. In other words, what do I know? It just seems odd that the Bidens and Zelenskys of the world are unimpeachable, both politically and in a media sense. Meanwhile, America-First populists like Trump are repeatedly battered, indicted, impeached, and expected to bow down to career politicians of the Uniparty.
And, yes, perhaps my daily dosage of Styxhexenhammer and regular viewing of Mark Dice has warped my brain, but I believe that both mainstream Democrats and Republicans pursue much the same agenda, that is staying in power and enriching themselves while persecuting anyone who dares to upset establishment politics.
Just more “evidence” that the corruption goes up into the highest reaches of our grubermint. Not that anything will be done about it until We, The People have had enough. Seems as if I recall instructions as to what We, The People are supposed to do when the grubermint is not serving the needs of We, The People.
We have a commission to preserve American heritage abroad? But we (we=libs) are rushing to dump American heritage right here at home? Help me understand this.
Crack pipe canvas
and a marmalade brain
the Bidens are as dirty
as an August rain.
Ah, The old haiku. Let me give it a whirl.
The images of the Son
Were as crooked as the father
The camera people did not care
It was too much bother
Haikus or limericks?
Ah, fuck it! I’m going in
There once was a turd from Delaware
His and his kin’s bribes we are aware
The clock struck two
Joe tripped his shoe
America can’t escape this nightmare
How ’bout a dirty cadence?:
My son’s a dirty whore
Probably has kids in Baltimore
But I would do anything
To keep him from jail
He’s quite the executive
That’s why I let him live
But if he keeps up this shit
He’ll go the way of Beau
10% for the Big Guy
I’m Joe why would I lie?
Hunter’s the smartest guy
That I’ll ever know
I have a cool Corvette
It makes my son’s girls wet
And if you want malarky
Mumbleajumblegoogleatron
An easel and some paint
might tickle Hunter’s taint
but the Trumpster is to blame
because he never played the Game
I heard that when he left court today, he had a “oh shit I’m boned” expression until he saw the Press and put his game face on.
I wouldn’t let Hunter bite me drive me either. There’s no way he was sober. If they were talking about taking bribes during dinner it’s a whole other thing.
It’s been an interesting day for the Bidens though since the deal fell apart.
Also somebody had to push the reset button on Mitch McConnell. I always figured he was poorly written AI. But now we have actual proof.
The old bastard may have had a TIA.
It did look very much like that. Which is a quandary. They can’t give it to Grassley he is already in a diaper, Collins is a non-starter so that leaves Crapo, who besides being named “Crapo” looks like a creepy Movie extra hired to play a creepy old senator. Coryn and Murkowski are on the list of things hated by Trump.
Guess who that leaves?
Lindsey Graham.