House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer is opening an investigation into First Son Hunter Biden’s art sales following shady donations from a Democrat.
Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser and Los Angeles real estate investor, was recently listed as a buyer in Hunter’s $1.3 million art sales. Naftali is a well-known Democratic donor in California, having given $13,414 to President Joe Biden’s campaign and $29,700 to the Democratic National Committee just this year. She also sponsored a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris last year.
Biden announced Naftali’s nomination to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad in July 2022, eight months after Hunter’s first art gallery opened.
“Membership on the commission is an unpaid position that is often filled by campaign donors, family members, and political allies — the same crowd that often winds up with US ambassadorial appointments. Hirsh Naftali’s fundraising activities mark her as the kind of well-connected donor who often wins such appointments, regardless of any relationship they might have with the president’s family,” Business Insider reported.
“But they do not address the possibility that Hunter Biden might have voiced his support for her appointment,” the report continued.
It is currently unclear whether Hirsh purchased the younger Biden’s art before or after her appointment to the commission, though Comer is demanding answers.
“The White House has stated that ‘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.’ Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s lawyer, told reporters that the gallery ‘does not disclose the names of any purchasers to Mr. Biden,’” he wrote in a statement.
“This system, however, seems to have failed, because Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali’s identity as a purchaser of this art has become public,” the statement added.
This comes after Comer said that Hunter could be facing up to 10 criminal referrals once the federal investigation into the Biden family finishes.
Among the criminal referrals the president’s son could face is violating the federal Mann Act, which makes it illegal to transport women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.
