Ethics Arrangement About Hunter Biden's Art Is Legal
The Claim
Hunter Biden is selling art at inflated prices to launder bribes and illegal White House donations.
Emerging story
News of a recent White House ethics arrangement regarding the sale of Hunter Biden’s art has gone viral. The nature of this arrangement requires Biden’s art dealer to keep the names of the purchasers a secret from Hunter Biden, President Biden, and individuals within the Biden administration. This is in order to prevent buyers from purchasing the art to curry favor with the family. Hunter Biden’s art dealer claims that some of the pieces could fetch as high a sum as $500,000.
Since the announcement of the ethics arrangement, many people on social media have claimed that his art sales are a form of money laundering. Others have claimed that keeping buyers confidential is illegal. These posts have gained thousands of interactions.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that there is nothing illegal about the ethics arrangement on Hunter Biden’s art sales, as there is no law that makes it illegal for an artist to not know the identity of their art’s purchasers. Biden’s pre-existing federal investigation appears to be unrelated to his art and is ongoing.
The confidentiality arrangement was created by the White House as an attempt to avoid conflicts of interest. Biden’s art dealer has agreed to not share the details of who buys the artworks with any individual whatsoever. He will also reject any offers that he believes are suspicious, such as someone who bids far above the asking price for the works. If a buyer does reveal publicly that he has purchased Hunter Biden’s art, then the Biden Administration would be discouraged from working with that individual, a source familiar with the deal told The New York Times.
Hunter Biden has been creating art since childhood and he is now both an artist and practicing lawyer. This suggests that Biden’s art is a legitimate enterprise and not a front for criminality.
In December, CNN confirmed that federal investigators were analyzing whether or not Hunter Biden violated money-laundering laws. These laws were related to his business deals overseas, not his art sales. The investigation has not concluded, and Biden maintains that he is innocent. Therefore, claiming that Biden is guilty of money laundering as of July 2020 is incorrect. There is no proof that this was the case whether it is related to his art sales or his business dealings.
It is common for people to accuse those who are related to presidents they dislike of conducting criminal activities, such as money laundering. Many posts on Twitter similarly accuse Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump of money laundering. However, we could find no proof that either has been found guilty of this crime.
