Hunter Biden paintings pose ethical challenge for president

[TexasTowelie]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has established an arrangement that would allow President Joe Biden’s son Hunter to sell his artwork for tens of thousands of dollars without knowing the identity of the purchaser, an agreement established in attempt to avoid any potential ethical concerns surrounding his sales.

Under the arrangement, a private art gallery owner will set prices for his work and will handle all bidding and sales, but will not share any information about buyers or prospective buyers with Hunter or anyone in the administration. The deal was first reported by The Washington Post.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the gallerist would reject “any offer out of the normal course” and that the administration believes the agreement “provides quite a level of protection and transparency." A person familiar with the arrangement noted that it requires the art dealer selling Hunter's work to turn down any buyer or offer that seems out of the ordinary, including any that comes in above the asking price. The person was not authorized to discuss the arrangement publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“After careful consideration a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards,” Psaki told reporters.

“Of course he has the right to pursue an artistic career, just like any child of a president has the right to pursue a career.”

Read more: https://tucson.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/hunter-biden-paintings-pose-ethical-challenge-for-president/article_c2ace3c3-339a-5394-9632-f8be781e7738.html

It appears that the administration has come to appropriate resolutions to any foreseeable issues.

[Demsrule86]

1. It is not Pres. Biden's problem and after the FG paid his kids and they grifted and stole...

peddled favors for cash right in the White House...I really don't give a damn. Hunter Biden has a right to work in his profession.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Excellent point.

[Demsrule86]

63. Thanks!

[paleotn]

14. Spot on.

[Demsrule86]

64. Thanks so much

[PatSeg]

25. I don't give a damn either

But it is because of the former guy, that I think the administration and the Bidens are going the extra mile to make sure there is no appearance of impropriety. Also they know how the right will twist anything to make Biden or any Democratic president look bad.

I really feel badly for Hunter Biden. He has been a target for republicans ever since it was believed his father would run for president. The right will attack anyone for anything while ignoring the graft and corruption in their own house.

[Demsrule86]

62. Thank you!

They will twist the Hunter situation no matter what. We should take a lesson from Northam who basically said what he said and ignored it and it was over.

[PatSeg]

66. We all know by now

that republicans will look for any appearance of weakness and they will attack. In the absence of any actual weakness, they will fabricate it. Anyone who runs against them knows to expect it. I feel badly for the Bidens. They are such a close knit family and nothing is more painful for them than to have a family member attacked.

[patricia92243]

2. This is non-sense. Can you imagine the other guy going to

this much trouble.

Does this mean that everything a presidents' grown children do has to be approved by whoever. God forbid if Hunter ever wants to sell his car.

[gab13by13]

3. For fuck's sake,

c'mon people, enough.

[GoCubsGo]

4. He should just pretend they're crappy diesigner handbags and shoes.

Like all the cheap shit Ivanka was selling while her father was President.

BTW, those are actually some pretty good paintings, if you like modern art. Which I do. Wouldn't mind having some of them.

[marble falls]

15. Crappy handbags and shoes with designs 'borrowed' from others.

[GoCubsGo]

17. And, produced in sweatshops in "Jyna."

I have seen some of her shit in thrift shops, where TJ Maxx donated them after they couldn't sell them at a discount. The disposable crap Walmart sells is far more well-made.

[Traildogbob]

18. Don't forget

The Goya beans. I don’t want to hear one day word about ethics after TFG and his whole damn herd of spawn, and his cult, have not one damn ethic. When Joe starts sexually assaulting women, bone porn stars, stealing from kids cancer charities, promotes Kamala being hanged, F**k I can’t type fast enough to fill the list. Jared took $900 million dollar loan from the murderous country behind 9/11 to bail out his idiot ass.
Media, STFU trying to create damage to a real President. We wouldn’t want Bishops to end his communion on Sundays.

[KS Toronado]

23. Maybe Hunter could paint some crappy designer handbags and shoes.

Maybe even hint who's label is on them.

[GoCubsGo]

38. Or, take a page from Andy Warhol, and paint cans of Goya beans..

Remember that Oval Office stunt?

[KS Toronado]

40. YES! Paint the Oval Office stunt.

I'd buy a print.

[PatSeg]

26. I like them as well

[betsuni]

6. Richard Painter (LOL) says an up-and-coming painter without much experience or many sales

(Painter was an ethics lawyer under G.W.B's administration), is uneasy about the arrangement.

[PatSeg]

27. Wow, I hadn't seen those paintings

They are surprisingly powerful and disturbing. Apparently GW has a conscience and a soul. Can you imagine Trump painting about the death and destruction he has caused?

[betsuni]

28. No such luck. It's a joke.

The best we can hope for is a nightmare once in a while.

[PatSeg]

33. Shoot, can't believe I fell for that

Missed that it was from The Onion.

I think there could be nightmares. He does paint a lot of severely wounded vets and though he may not admit it, I think he feels responsible. His life would have been so much better if he'd never run for political office and the world would have been better off as well.

[mopinko]

31. damn you.

the onion.

[betsuni]

35. Sorry!

[mopinko]

36. sorry, responded to the wrong post.

meant for the smart aleck that posted.

[Smackdown2019]

7. So if any money is made by a Democrat Presidential family

So if any money is made by a Democrat Presidential family member legally, Republicans want their heads. If Republicans Presidential family makes money illegal and are caught, it's a political witchhunt?

We all need to ignore those A-holes and live in reality.... they dont!

[padah513]

8. So if any money is made by a Democratic Presidential family

I fixed it for you

[CurtEastPoint]

12. Thank you. It may seem like a small thing but it reeks of Repube-talk

[lookyhereyou]

9. well put

[crickets]

45. Thank you!

My first question on reading the article was, "what ethical challenges?" They've bent over backwards here to avoid any, which is miles beyond the complete lack of effort by relatives of the former WH occupant. This is a nonissue being plumped up as something it is not.

[Jarqui]

10. From Hunter's perspective ..

What right does anyone have to mess with the sale of art he created?

I have this funny feeling that the answer is : clearly and absolutely none.

So he's going along with this to protect his father. There's no other legitimate reason for it. He should be able to sell his art to the highest bidder like any other artist on the planet. Because of his father, he can't because of how the media will twist it.

But where were these critics when Ivanka got trademark concessions for her fashion business from the Chinses, etc? Where were these critics when the Trump sons sold off more than $100 million of their father's real estate? Where were these people when the Trump Hotel in Washington rented entire floors out to someone and nobody showed up? etc, etc. etc.

I think the Bidens have done all they could here. And it has compromised the return his son might have otherwise received for his art.

For every sentence uttered or written about this, there should be paragraphs or chapters or books on the Trumps.

[whistler162]

11. No more than Margret Triman's singing did

for the Truman administration. President Biden should follow. At least the support.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Truman

"At the beginning of her career, critical reviews of Truman's singing were positive, polite or diplomatic in tone, with some later reviewers speculating that negative opinions were held back out of deference for her father as a current sitting United States President.[2] This practice was broken in 1950 when Washington Post music critic Paul Hume wrote that Truman was "extremely attractive on the stage... [but] cannot sing very well. She is flat a good deal of the time. And still cannot sing with anything approaching professional finish." The review angered President Truman (who was dealing that same day with the sudden death of his childhood friend and White House Press Secretary Charlie Ross[7]), who wrote to Hume, "Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!"[8] Hume wanted to publish the letter, but Washington Post publisher Philip Graham vetoed the idea. However, Hume showed the letter to a number of his colleagues, including Milton Berliner, music critic of the rival Washington Times, which published a story. The Post was then forced to acknowledge the letter, which drew international headlines, becoming a minor scandal for the Truman administration. Reviewers after that felt more free to be honest in their reviews of her performances, with mixed criticism for her singing thereafter.[2]"

[NJCher]

13. This is the right thing to do

We have to set standards and an ethical framework because the other side cannot even conceive of such matters.

[Demsrule86]

54. I do not believe that. Hunter is a grown man and should be able to do what he chooses as long

as he doesn't work in the White House or they promote his paintings in some way...we play by the rules and the GOP blows the rules up. There can be no rules in that situation because it puts us at a disadvantage...you can not play by the rules and allow the other party to walk all over you. There are no rules in that situation. I well remember how Chelsea Clinton and the Obama girls were treated by the other party-they were kids. And I don't give a damn about 'rules' for us but none for the traitor party.

[NJCher]

56. so propose a solution

for how to handle the influence peddling suspicions, not just by republicans but by independents and Democrats as well.

[Demsrule86]

60. We allow Hunter the freedom to sell his paintings to those willing to buy them and tell the

GOP who supported the Trump kid's constant grift to pound sand. We won't play your game anymore. Have we seen Matt Gaetz resign yet? No, we haven't but Katie Hill resigned for consensual sex with a staffer. And we lost that seat. This sort of thing must stop.

Our people are targeted by the GOP...we damn near gave Virginia back to the GOP with the Northam and Fairfax scandal. They were also targeting the Democrat next in succession...the AG. We must play hardball.

Of topic, I am cleaning the house we sold today (taking a break at the moment) So I will be cooking again...it is finally over! I read the cooking forum everyday but have cooked almost nothing these last several months.

[uponit7771]

68. Tell US media to stop promoting Republican bullshit and tell Republicans to fuck off

[uponit7771]

67. No it's not Hunter does not work for the White House like Ivanka did

[paleotn]

16. Why is this considered important? Why?

Hunter Biden is not president of the US. He's a private citizen, with no direct ties to the government or to anything of any importance. I could care less what he does, just like I didn't give two shits about the activities of Billy Carter or Roger Clinton.

When nothing particularly important has crossed the minds of journalists, those with attention spans of fruit flies, why must they go on and on about the unimportant? Just to hear themselves chatter? Stupid humans. Ugh.

[uponit7771]

69. Because DC Dems bow to Republican bullshit repeated by the MSM too much

[George II]

19. republicans will try to make an issue of this, but it's a non-issue....

Who cares? He's a private citizen, and he's not selling his paintings out of the basement of the White House.

Let's line up the financial "scandals" of Hunter Biden against the scandals of Junior, Eric, Ivanka, and Jared.

And when they bring up Hunter's admitted drug issues, we can just show the video of Junior at CPAC yesterday.

[smirkymonkey]

24. +1000

[Bengus81]

65. Yep....This nothing burger is going nowhere

[dlk]

20. After the endless corruption and conflict of interest with Trump, seriously?

The double-standard is disgusting!

[Tomconroy]

21. I'm uncomfortable with this.

He does just seem to be preying off of the President's name. Except for President Obama, there always seem to be relatives who do this. I still don't like it.
I remember Billy Beer.

[Hekate]

32. Curious you only mention the relatives of Democratic presidents, after 4 years of the most corrupt...

…administration in US history. The Trump admin corruption was enthusiastically participated in by every single adult member of his family, and enabled by an entire political party, which then tried to overthrow the US government.

So I question your discomfort, as it is so narrowly applied. Billy Beer? Really? Compared to Ivanka’s 30 Chinese patents that she immediately applied for and got as soon as Daddy was elected?

Hunter Biden isn’t doing anything illegal, unethical, or immoral. Yet the RW will hunt him down and beat him to a bloody pulp, the way they’ve tried to do to Hillary. Daily. Don’t be fooled by their sudden sanctimony.

[Tomconroy]

34. I'm not fooled by their sudden sanctimony.

I remember Donald Nixon, and wasn't Reagan's brother up to something?
But I don't think our side should get a pass. It's not illegal, but frankly, it stinks. I don't see why Hunter should be giving the other side ammunition.
He should spend the next eight years as far out of the public eye as possible.

[Hekate]

43. The RW media will hunt him down no matter what he does, and the MSM would help...

If he became a priest in his ancestral religion they would start asking if he’d developed a sudden interest in small boys.

There is nothing he can do that will cause them to stop the abuse except commit suicide. He’s a wounded soul and they smell blood.

[GoodRaisin]

22. The only ones that will complain about it is Fox News and the Trumps

and they will make up lies about it anyway.

[Deminpenn]

29. Seems reasonable that the buyers will remain anonymous

If the Bidens don't know who bought the art, then that certainly reduces the chance to near zero the buyer could use his or her purchase to gain influence.

The 75k and up asking prices seem out of line for an inexperienced artist, though, but Hunter is entitled to try to earn a living as an artist.

On further thought, maybe instead of the buyers being anonymous, the auctioneer should have kept the artist's name anonymous and set the auction as a nothing special, garden variety art sale.

[MichMan]

42. I dont imagine that there is any prohibition on the buyers disclosing what they bought

Seems like the buyers could disclose anything they wanted to. If someone wants to spend large amounts of $$$ for art it is their business

[Deminpenn]

53. Agree

I could see a buyer who wanted to influence Biden mentioning that he or she had bought one of Hunter's paintings.

[FelineOverlord]

30. Hunter Biden paintings pose ethical challenge for president

Hunter is a private citizen. He can sell his work for whatever a buyer is willing lling to pay.

Resistance Twitter is responding with appropriate anger and mockery to the desperate attempts of reporters to somehow make this into a scandal.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Crunchy Frog]

37. It will be turned into the crime of the century. nt

[Hoyt]

39. Like the arrangement, just wish this issue had not arisen.

[Ellipsis]

41. Not bad work.

Is it worth $75k to a half Mil? ... not so much.

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hunter-biden-gallery-show-1979790

[Hekate]

44. Thanks for the link. Those are surprisingly good; who knew he'd been making art his whole life?

Good article, too.

[Hekate]

52. Returned to say I just spent some time really looking at Hunter's art. It's damn good, & I love ...

… his colors.

The gallery owner is setting the prices, iirc, and then there’s speculation from WaPo and others in the media, demanding “transparency.” Screw them.

[IcyPeas]

46. art is worth whatever someone wants to pay.

This artwork by Biden is untitled but measures 24in x 48in and was created on sheet metal. His art dealer has priced Biden's artworks between $75,000 and $500,000

[blogslug]

47. Exactly

The dealer is setting those prices and will get a cut of the sale. Artists are terrible at pricing their works. I'm not thrilled about giving buyers anonymity but numerous works have been sold to unknown purchasers. Some people buy art because they love it or want to support the artist. Others buy it as an investment or for bragging rights.

It's all subjective.

No matter what Hunter Biden does to make money, right-wing trolls are going to condemn him. This is perfectly cromulent art made with his own two hands. Good for him.

[treestar]

48. Why people have a hard time realizing they are two

separate adults.

Maybe because of the former recent grifter family?

[flying rabbit]

49. He's pretty good. NT

[Bucky]

58. Better than...?

[canetoad]

50. I would prefer that the prices for Hunter's artwork

Were in a ballpark figure for a first time exhibitor.

However, knowing the art world, it is just not possible for him to work his way up via exhibiting and sales as an unknown. Hunter Biden is who he is and the prices reflect the novelty value of a president's son selling artworks.

I have both curated and judged exhibitions and art prizes. It seems to me that creating this work is a therapeutic activity for Hunter. I also believe that any artist should take full advantage of a circumstance that favours the sale of their work; lord knows it's hard enough for artists to make a living in any society.

I'm hoping that Hunter's story brings attention to artists in every facet of society and their role in the mental well-being of humans across the globe.

[Demsrule86]

55. We don't get to decide this...that is the buyer's decision.

And I have no doubt, it is theurapeutic.

[ZonkerHarris]

51. It is an ethical dilemma that needs to be dealt with. Hope it works.

[Demsrule86]

70. I don't consider it an ethical dilemma at all.

[ZonkerHarris]

71. Right now his paintings only have value because of his name and who he is related to.

They are good but that's not why people are willing to pay so much money for them.

[MineralMan]

57. So, I looked at a few of his paintings.

They're not to my taste, but that's irrelevant. Clearly, they take a lot of time to create. Are they valuable? Well, the market decides that, I think. I can't really see any controversy here, frankly.

He paints, apparently. I did not know that. I doubt he has any influence over his father, really. So, if his art dealer can sell them for whatever the market will bear, good for Hunter Biden.

If they want to set up a system where he doesn't know who buys them, that's fine with me, too.

I'm not seeing any issue here, really.

On another note, we have an entry atrium in our new split-level townhome. We just moved in and are trying to decide what to hang on our walls. We have lots of art, most of it by younger, aspiring artists we have known. But there is a wall in that atrium that is highly visible from the living room and is well-lit. It is crying out for a large piece of art hanging on it.

We have a good friend whose husband died not too long ago. He was a very accomplished artist who painted large-scale works. He never really sold any of them, and most were hanging in their house. His wife is one of my wife's best friends, so we contacted her about maybe buying one of his paintings for that wall. She's moving into a smaller place, and won't have a place for all of his artwork. She's coming to visit our new home tomorrow. We'll talk about it then, after she sees the space I'm talking about.

But, she doesn't want to sell any of her late husband's paintings. She suggested that she might simply loan one of them to us to hang for an indefinitely long term. Perhaps we'll let her do that. I'd like to see any of several of his dramatic large paintings I've seen hanging there. The biggest problem will be the mechanics of hanging it on that high wall. We'll have to hire someone to do that, since I don't go up on 12' ladders any more.

[tenderfoot]

59. Oh bullshit

eom

[lame54]

61. What if he painted a can of Goya Beans?

[gulliver]

72. Just announce that anyone known to buy one of the paintings is off limits at the WH

No meetings. No phone calls. No contacts of any kind, direct or indirect, once it is known that someone bought one of the paintings. These kinds of ethics codes are common.

Hunter would still make a ton of money purely on name recognition and historicity. Heck, Republicans would be prime candidates as buyers. Hunter figures prominently in their fantasies already.