First son Hunter Biden may finally be forced to reveal the identities of the people buying his pricey paintings — thanks to his ongoing Arkansas child support case.
Former flame Lunden Roberts, 31, is demanding “detailed information” on the recovering crack addict Biden’s customers in response to the 52-year-old Hunter’s attempt to lower his child support payments for his four-year-old daughter with Roberts, court papers reveal.
In September 2022, Biden appealed to an Independence County, Ark., court for his IOUs to be reduced, claiming “a substantial material change” in his “financial circumstances.”
But Roberts, aware of Biden’s recent New York City art shows, fired back, asking the court to compel Biden to finally disclose who exactly is shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for the self-taught artist’s works.
“The plaintiff asked for detailed information about the defendant’s works of ‘art’ and the purchasers of the same,” Clinton Lancaster, Roberts’ attorney, wrote in a Dec. 27, 2022, court filing.
“Even though the defendant has been the subject of articles by the New York Times regarding his ‘art,’ President Biden’s administration has taken measures to shield the White House from the buyers of the defendant’s ‘art,’ and the defendant was seen in New York City as recently as a few months ago showing and selling his ‘art,’ the defendant has refused to provide any information about his ‘art’ or the income derived from it,” Lancaster continued.
“Instead, history repeats itself and Mr. Biden seeks a protective order,” the attorney added.
A relative newcomer to the art world, the first son’s paintings sell for as much as $500,000 apiece.
Hunter Biden received at least $375,000 for five prints displayed at a Hollywood art show in 2021. The spectacle was reportedly attended by some 200 people, including President Biden’s embattled nominee to be ambassador to India, then-Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
It’s unclear how many additional sales Biden made at the Hollywood show, or how many total artworks he’s sold thus far in his burgeoning art career.
The White House said in October 2021 that Hunter Biden’s art sales would be “anonymous” in an effort to prevent corruption.
Then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time that an agreement with Hunter Biden’s art dealer, Manhattan gallery owner Georges Berges, will ensure that neither White House staff, the 80-year-old president, nor Hunter Biden would know the names of the buyers.
The president’s embattled son had at least two buyers interested in a painting priced as much as a house at his SoHo art show last month, according to Berges.
The mustard-yellow floral painting on Yupo Japanese paper was priced at $225,000. It was the most expensive piece at what was his second solo show.
“He’s always been an artist,” Berges said. “The difference is where we are being misconstrued that when he focused his whole life on art, they took it to being he just started doing art. But there is a difference between painting on your own and saying ‘OK, that’s all I’m going to do and I’m just going to be an artist.’”
If Roberts and her lawyer succeed in getting Biden, 52, to turn over an itemized list of his art sales, it could actually increase Biden’s child support payments for four-year-old Navy Joan Roberts and reveal information that incoming House Republicans have been trying to get their hands on.
Berges has ignored multiple letters from prospective House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) asking for the names of art buyers and details of communications with the White House.
Comer cites ““serious ethical concerns” about the high-priced art Biden is selling as a beginner.
“It is important that we learn who has purchased Hunter Biden’s artwork and whether the purchasers intended to benefit from President Biden’s elected office,” Comer wrote in his most recent letter to Berges.
“When the son of the sitting President of the United States is the recipient of such high-dollar sums with no accountability or oversight, it raises concerns that the buyers may be purchasing the pieces with the intent of gaining favor with the Biden family,” he added.
House Republicans have vowed to investigate allegations of a massive influence-peddling operation being run by members of the Biden clan, including Hunter, now that they will have control of the lower chamber.
