The White House on Thursday defended the questionable ethical guidelines surrounding President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s newfound interest in painting and selling art.
“We believe that Hunter Biden, just like any child of a president, should be able to pursue their professions and their passions,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said to reporters during the daily briefing.
CBS News reported that Hunter Biden will meet with possible art buyers during two art shows in Los Angeles and New York City – even though the buyers of his paintings are supposed to be anonymous.
Psaki said Hunter Biden had agreed not to discuss the sale of his art while meeting with prospective buyers.
“We believe this is a reasonable system that has been established that allows for Hunter Biden to work in his profession within appropriate safeguards,” she said.
Psaki said the gallery would handle the transactions and sales for Hunter Biden’s paintings.
She dismissed the idea that it was important to disclose the buyers of Hunter Biden’s art for the sake of transparency to ensure there was no corruption surrounding the transactions.
“We won’t know who the buyers are. Hunter Biden won’t know who the buyers are,” Psaki said, adding that as long as the donors were anonymous, “there’s no scenario where they could provide influence.”
Political ethics experts have criticized the decision to keep the names of the art purchasers anonymous.
“Their solution of transparency is to actually hide who is engaged in the transaction. It’s ludicrous,” said Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) in an interview with Fox Business.
Hunter Biden’s paintings are priced between $75,000 and a $500,000 apiece.