A Chinese-tied art dealer is refusing to answer questions from Congress on just who is spending as much as $500,000 on paintings by Hunter Biden, the adult son of President Joe Biden and whether Biden’s “art sales” are actually a form of foreign money laundering and influence peddling.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is stepping up his efforts to get testimony from Georges Bergès, owner of the Georges Bergès Gallery, regarding the anonymous buyers spending as much as a half-million dollars for paintings by Hunter Biden, who is not a trained or popular artist.
Bergès, who has claimed in previous media interviews to be one of the leading art dealers in Communist China, refuses to cooperate with investigators.
In a letter to Bergès’s attorney, Comer asks Bergès to appear before the Committee and offer written testimony.
“Mr. Bergès has refused to provide any information regarding who is buying Mr. Biden’s art. He has chosen to obstruct in an apparent effort to shield Mr. Biden and/or the purchasers’ of Mr. Biden’s art from congressional oversight,” writes Comer.
“The Committee seeks information about the unidentified purchasers of Mr. Biden’s artwork and the non-public agreement with the White House concerning the same, among other items. This information will inform our legislation on matters that are within the jurisdiction of this Committee,” Comer continues.
For instance, the prices of the artwork — reportedly ranging between $75,000 and $500,000 — even caused the Obama-era head of the Office of Government Ethics, Mr. Walter Shaub, to raise these ethics issues publicly. Mr. Shaub stated the White House has ‘basically outsourced government ethics to a private art dealer and they’re depending on unknown art purchasers to help keep the secret.’ The Committee shares these concerns,” Comer writes.
“The facts belie any claim by Mr. Bergès that the Committee has no legitimate legislative purpose,” continued Comer. “The Committee is reviewing legislative solutions that address the ethics and money laundering issues raised by certain high-end art deals, and your information is critical to our investigation.”
“Notwithstanding his tenuous legal arguments, Mr. Bergès mischaracterizes the purpose of our investigation and fails to acknowledge that the Committee’s requests are ‘related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress.’ Although your client has refused to produce any documents, the Committee will extend another opportunity for Mr. Bergès and the Georges Bergès Galleries LLC to adequately respond to our request,” Comer concludes.
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