Jean-Pierre Has to 'Look Into' White House Visits by Hunter Biden's Art Buyer (July 26, 2023)

The White House had said buyers of Hunter Biden’s paintings would stay anonymous. Then one was named: Democratic donor Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, whom President Biden had appointed to a federal commission and who had visited the White House at least 13 times, according to House Oversight Republicans [2]. Asked about those visits, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “I would have to look into that. I’ve not — I’ve not been tracking the — these visits that you’re mentioning to me” [1].

The video above shows that July 26, 2023, exchange. Quotes are from the official White House transcript [1]. The same reporter had just pressed Jean-Pierre on why the White House’s description of the president’s role in his son’s business had changed [1].

”Nothing Has Changed”

“The President has previously said that he has never discussed overseas business dealings with his son. But the White House now says that the President has never been in business with his son,” the reporter said. “So, why the updated language? Which statement is true? Or is this semantics and they’re both true?” [1]

“As I stated on Monday when I was asked this question multiple times, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed on this,” Jean-Pierre said. “And so, you could ask me a million different ways on this question. Nothing has changed” [1].

Two days earlier, asked whether the president still stood behind his claim that he had never even spoken to his son about his business, she had said: “The answer remains the same: The President ha- — was never in business with his son. I just don’t have anything else to add” [4].

”I Would Have to Look Into That”

Then the reporter turned to the art buyer. “I wanted to ask, though, about Elizabeth Naftali. She’s made more than a dozen visits here to the White House and met with some of the President’s most senior advisors. Can you tell us a little bit more about those visits, why she was here?” [1]

“I would have to look into that. I’ve not — I’ve not been tracking the — these visits that you’re mentioning to me,” Jean-Pierre said. When the reporter thanked her, she answered, “Okay. No problem. Thank you,” and moved on [1].

Who Is Elizabeth Naftali?

The appointment: On July 1, 2022, the White House announced Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali as a member of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad [5]. The commission, created in 1985, works to preserve sites important to populations affected by Nazism, communism and the Cold War [5].
The purchases: Naftali bought a Hunter Biden piece for $42,000 on Feb. 17, 2021, “mere weeks after President Biden’s inauguration,” and a second for $52,000 on Dec. 9, 2022, according to the House committees’ impeachment report. Hunter Biden’s art dealer, George Bergès, told the committees she had never bought art from him before, and that “it took a lot of convincing” [3].
The visits: “White House visitor logs revealed that Ms. Hirsh Naftali visited the White House at least 13 times since December 2021,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote [2].
The donor: The committees’ report, citing news reports, described her as a California real estate investor and Democratic donor [3].

The Anonymity Promise

The arrangement was supposed to keep this from happening. Comer quoted the White House’s own description of the plan: “Hunter Biden would be walled off from knowing the identities of his buyers in an attempt to separate his business dealings from his father’s administration.” Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, had said the gallery “does not disclose the names of any purchasers to Mr. Biden” [2].

“This system, however, seems to have failed, because Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali’s identity as a purchaser of this art has become public,” Comer wrote. He called her commission seat “particularly suspicious” because Hunter Biden had earlier helped his business partner Eric Schwerin get the same post while his father was vice president [2].

Bergès’ testimony added a wrinkle. Under his first contract with Hunter Biden, the artist was able to know who the buyers were. That provision was removed in a September 2021 contract, which barred Bergès from disclosing buyers’ names and gave Hunter Biden a 5% higher commission, according to the report [3]. Naftali’s first purchase came months before that change [3].

”Top, Top Tier” Prices

The prices themselves raised eyebrows. The committees’ report quoted national art critic Ben Davis, speaking to Politico in 2021: “For an emerging artist doing his first show, this would put Hunter Biden in the top, top tier of what was thinkable. These are prices for an already successful artist.” It also quoted Jeffry Cudlin, a professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, telling the Washington Examiner that none of the value of Hunter Biden’s art was “due to the art itself” [3].

The commission seat had its own history. President Barack Obama appointed Schwerin to the same preservation board in 2015, and Schwerin later thanked Hunter Biden when he was reappointed in the final weeks of the Obama administration, according to the report [3].

By the Numbers

$42,000: Naftali’s first Hunter Biden purchase, Feb. 17, 2021 [3].
$52,000: her second, Dec. 9, 2022 [3].
13: White House visits since December 2021, according to Comer [2].
$875,000: the art bought by Kevin Morris, the largest buyer, who the report says paid only the commission owed to Bergès [3].
1985: the year the commission she was appointed to was established [5].

What Happened Next

Comer demanded answers. In July 2023, he wrote to Naftali and to White House Counsel Stuart Delery seeking information on her purchase, her appointment and the White House’s role in the art sales [2].

The dealer testified. Bergès sat for a transcribed interview with the Oversight and Judiciary committees on Jan. 9, 2024 [3]. His account of the sales became part of the committees’ August 2024 impeachment report [3].

The pardon. On Dec. 1, 2024, Biden pardoned his son for offenses he “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024” [6]. HYGO News covers that arc on its page on the House GOP probes.

For more of Jean-Pierre’s answers checked against the record, see the Karine Jean-Pierre record page.