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WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden’s Manhattan art dealer said Tuesday that he never worked with the White House on an ethics pact to ensure buyers would remain anonymous — and added that the top purchasers were known to the first son, contrary to prior claims from President Biden’s aides.

Georges Bergès also revealed that in addition to the lack of supposed anti-corruption safeguards he actually met and spoke on the phone with the president while repping his son, the House Oversight Committee said in a readout of a closed-door deposition.

The art dealer testified that Hunter, 53, knew who bought about 70% of his art — including Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, who obtained works by the first son before and after scoring a prestigious presidential appointment.

Bergès disclosed that he personally interacted with Joe Biden on multiple occasions, including at a closed-to-press White House wedding for Hunter’s daughter Naomi in 2022.

The high-stakes testimony came as the Oversight Committee spearheads an impeachment inquiry into whether the elder Biden was corruptly involved with his son and brother James’s foreign ventures while vice president.

Hirsh Naftali, who scored repeated visits to the White House during the timeframe in question, inked a $42,000 sale in February 2021, before her appointment that July by Joe Biden to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, and then another for $52,000 in December 2022.

Bergès also confirmed that the first son was aware that Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who met Hunter at a political fundraiser in December 2019 before bankrolling his tax payments and living expenses, was his top patron, buying $875,000 worth of art in a January 2023 deal.


  First son Hunter Biden’s Manhattan art dealer Georges Bergès shared details Tuesday about purchasers of the first son’s novice works. Stephen Yang First son Hunter Biden’s Manhattan art dealer Georges Bergès shared details Tuesday about purchasers of the first son’s novice works. Stephen Yang

“The Biden White House appears to have deceived the American people about facilitating an ethics agreement governing the sale of Hunter Biden’s art,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement. “Hunter Biden’s gallerist never had any communication with the White House about such an agreement to make sure there was any sort of ethics compliance at all, and he provided information to the committee revealing how Hunter Biden’s amateur art career is an ethics nightmare. 

“The vast majority of Hunter Biden’s art has been purchased by Democrat donors, one of whom was appointed by President Biden to a prestigious commission after she purchased Hunter Biden’s art for tens of thousands of dollars shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration,” Comer added. “The White House has a lot of explaining to do about misleading the American people.”

The White House did not immediately offer comment on Bergès’ testimony. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre referred questions to the White House counsel’s office during her regular briefing.


  Bergès said that Hunter, 53, actually knew who bought about 70% of his art, including Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali.
 Bergès said that Hunter, 53, actually knew who bought about 70% of his art, including Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali.

It was not immediately clear if Bergès comprehensively provided buyer information after previously refusing to do so.

Bergès also told committee members during the closed-door deposition that Hollywood producer Lanette Phillips, who has hosted fundraisers for the elder Biden, introduced Hunter to Bergès.

Hunter Biden has sold at least $1.3 million in art as of this past July, according to Business Insider.

The Post previously reported that Hunter sold five prints for $75,000 each — totaling $375,000 — at an October 2021 Hollywood art show that controversially was attended then-LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, who at the time was President Biden’s embattled nominee to be ambassador to India.

The existence of a supposed ethics arrangement through which Hunter Biden would remain in the dark about buyer information was first reported in July 2021 by the Washington Post and the framework was cited repeatedly by then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

The Washington Post, citing two Biden aides, wrote that “White House officials have helped craft an agreement under which purchases of Hunter Biden’s artwork — which could be listed at prices as high as $500,000 — will be kept confidential from even the artist himself, in an attempt to avoid ethical issues that could arise as a presidential family member tries to sell a product with a highly subjective value.”

Psaki did not dispute the article at a briefing the following day when asked by a reporter, “Did the White House play any role in crafting the sales agreement with the New York gallery to protect the purchasers or the ultimate purchasers’ identity?”


  Bergès also confirmed that Hunter was aware that Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who met Hunter at a political fundraiser in December 2019 was his top patron, buying $875,000 worth of art in a January 2023 deal. Daniel William McKnight Bergès also confirmed that Hunter was aware that Hollywood lawyer Kevin Morris, who met Hunter at a political fundraiser in December 2019 was his top patron, buying $875,000 worth of art in a January 2023 deal. Daniel William McKnight

The then-White House spokesperson replied that “a system has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within reasonable safeguards… All interactions regarding the selling of art and the setting of prices will be handled by a professional gallerist, adhering to the highest industry standards. And any offer out of the normal course would be rejected out of hand. And the gallerist will not share information about buyers or prospective buyers, including their identities, with Hunter Biden or the administration.”

Weeks later, Psaki put some distance between the administration and the purported agreement.

“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,” she said in August 2021.

Hirsh Naftali has denied that she purchased Hunter’s art to curry favor with his dad, saying in a November statement that “any insinuation that her purchase of art was unusual or somehow improper” was false.

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