Hunter Biden’s art dealer, Georges Bergès, could be subpoenaed to reveal the price of his paintings sold to anonymous buyers, an Arkansas judge suggested in court Monday during a child support hearing between the president’s son and Lunden Roberts, the mother of his child.
Hunter Biden, who has refused to be forthcoming about his financials in a paternity case he reopened in 2022 to reduce his child support payments, was slammed by the presiding judge for “sealing and redacting” his financial information, including the income he earned from selling art as a novice painter to anonymous buyers for up to $500,000.
“The ability to redact is somewhat being abused,” the judge chided Hunter. “I’m seeing a lot of things filed, especially by Mr. Biden’s counsel, sealing things, redacting things, that are not confidential.”
The mother’s counsel, Clint Lancaster, said Hunter had hidden information regarding his tax returns referencing a nine-million-dollar investment in a Chinese entity and valuations of his art, along with the buyer’s names.
“He’s wrong, that’s not what it states,” Hunter Biden’s attorney disputed the disclosure.
The judge said the dispute over the disclosure was a good reason why the president’s son should be forthcoming about his financials.
She then suggested the mother’s counsel could subpoena Hunter’s art dealer, Georges Bergès, to obtain some of the information, noting it was “incredible” that Hunter Biden could not provide any art prices, the Daily Mail reported.
After the discussion, the judge ordered Hunter Biden to answer the questions of Roberts’ counsel in writing and sit for an interview under oath in the coming months to reveal information about the family’s international business ventures and his art sales to anonymous buyers.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers had claimed the reported 12 art sales were anonymous, and the purchasers’ identities were sealed.
In January, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) requested that Bergès testify before Congress and turn over relevant information about the art sales. Comer told Breitbart News in 2022 he is 95 percent sure that Hunter’s art is being purchased by Chinese buyers, potentially implicating President Joe Biden.
Bergès, who has a history of doing business in China, told Comer, through his hired attorney, that he will not provide information related to Hunter’s art sales because they are intended to be secret — the very issue in which Comer has raised concerns.
The mystery of Hunter Biden’s art sales comes as he resumed selling paintings to anonymous buyers in New York City in April.
The art market is known for corrupt and shady practices. A Senate subcommittee report detailed in 2020 how the art market serves as a vehicle for money laundering:
The art industry is considered the largest, legal unregulated industry in the United States. Unlike financial institutions, the art industry is not subject to Bank Secrecy Act’s (“BSA”) requirements, which mandate detailed procedures to prevent money laundering and to verify a customer’s identity. While the BSA does not apply to art transactions by art dealers and auction houses, sanctions do. No U.S. person or entity is allowed to do business with a sanctioned individual or entity.
“We were very transparent about what recommendations were made to the gallerist,” former White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied when asked about the lack of transparency. “I would point you to the gallerist on specifics of the restrictions that were put in place.”
The president’s 53-year-old son has remained defiant toward his critics, responding “f*ck ’em” when asked how he would respond to them.
The case is Roberts v. Biden, No. 32DR-19-178 in the Circuit Court of Independence County, Arkansas.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.