Hunter Biden’s art dealer, Georges Bergès, told the House Oversight Committee and House Judiciary Committee in an interview last week that he had not renewed his contract with President Joe Biden’s son after he stiffed him for ritzy art exhibitions.
According to a transcript of the interview reviewed by Breitbart News, Hunter Biden’s failure to pay his bills was a major reason behind Bergès’ decision to drop him as a client.
“It was a little bit more than I could chew.. So I haven’t agreed to renew that contract now,” the art gallerist testified.
This is far from the first time that Hunter Biden refused to pay his bills, as he has a long history of such behavior according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported that he previously refused to pay for housing, car payments and even legal fees — totaling roughly $4.9 million.
When asked during his testimony about who paid for Hunter Biden’s art exhibits, Bergès responded: “I paid for them. I’m still bitter about a lot of that stuff.”
“I took a gamble and it didn’t really pay off, but so that’s one of the reasons I haven’t really renewed the contract,” he added. “I had to do all the framing. I had to do all the shipping. I had to expedite it.”
According to his deal with Hunter Biden, Bergès was entitled to a 40% commission from the art sales, which suggests that Hunter received roughly $900,000 for his novice paintings.
These statements were part of the same interview in which Bergès admitted that Hunter Biden knew the identities of 70% of his art buyers, who were supposed to be “anonymous” per a supposed “ethics agreement” announced by the White House. Bergès also explained that this “ethics agreement” never existed.
The White House’s “ethics” agreement regarding Hunter's art was a sham.
The White House never facilitated any ethics agreement, despite saying the opposite. Hunter's art dealer even told us he never communicated with the White House.
Americans deserve the truth. @NEWSMAX pic.twitter.com/nw9Jiz9ilj
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) January 17, 2024
The White House previously touted the agreement as a way to circumvent concerns about potential influence-peddling using Hunter Biden’s art scheme. Thus the revelation that the agreement never existed has strengthened allegations of influence-peddling, especially with the knowledge that Hunter was aware of the identities of the vast majority of his art buyers, as well as the knowledge that art buyer and Democrat donor Elizabeth Naftali was appointed to a prestigious position by President Biden.
Naftali received that appointment after purchasing a piece of Hunter’s art for a staggering $42,000, and subsequently purchased another piece of his art for $52,000 several months after taking her new position.
In 2020, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali did not buy Hunter Biden's art despite Georges Bergès' best efforts.
Within two months of Joe Biden becoming President, in February 2021, Ms. Naftali purchased her first piece of Hunter Biden's artwork for $42,000.
Then in July 2022,…
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) January 9, 2024