- Georges Bergès, who oversees the sale of Hunter’s paintings, will be called to testify before the House Oversight Committee
- That includes Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real estate developer who paid top dollar for Hunter’s paintings
- Hunter’s business partners Eric Schwerin and Chinese businessman Mervyn Yan will also face new subpoenas
House Republicans plan to subpoena Hunter Biden’s art dealer and a Democratic donor who bought Hunter’s art on Wednesday, two sources said.
Georges Bergès, who oversees sales of Hunter’s paintings, will be called to testify before the House Oversight Committee, as will Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real estate developer who paid top dollar for Hunter’s paintings.
In July 2022, eight months after Hunter’s exhibition opened in New York City, Joe Biden appointed Naftali to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. It is not clear whether she had already purchased the art at that time.
The White House had previously announced that a team of lawyers had reviewed the sales and kept buyers anonymous as a way to avoid potential conflicts of interest when buyers handed inflated sales prices to the president’s son.
Georges Bergès and Hunter Biden. Bergès has represented Biden throughout his art career
Access: Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, who is revealed to have bought a Hunter Biden painting, has visited the White House more than a dozen times, visitor logs show
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., revealed that Naftali’s three-year-old niece had been taken hostage by Hamas in Israel.
“Naftali’s three-year-old niece is currently being held hostage by Hamas, but @RepJamesComer is spending his time subpoenaing a private citizen as part of his wild goose chase, instead of working to bring her family back from captivity,” he wrote on Twitter. “This is a new low for Republicans in the House of Representatives.”
Hunter’s business partners Eric Schwerin and Chinese businessman Mervyn Yan will also face new subpoenas.
The committee also requests interviews with Americore Health Trustee Carol Fox, business partner Joey Langston, Ukrainian-American businessman and longtime donor to Joe Biden, John Hynansky and associate Jason Galanis.
Schwerin, Hunter’s longtime business partner at Rosemont Seneca, visited the White House about 27 times during the Obama administration.
Membership of the committee that appointed Naftali is unpaid and often filled by friends and allies of the president, as are ambassadorships.
Naftali is prominent in Democratic circles in California. She has donated about $13,000 to the Biden campaign and has donated $29,700 to the Democratic National Campaign Committee this year.
Last year, she hosted a fundraiser headlined by Vice President Kamala Harris.
It is also not clear how much Naftali spent on Hunter’s art. A single buyer spent $875,000 on eleven of Hunter’s paintings, although that person’s identity is unclear.
The buyer apparently does not live in New York and is listed as out of state in purchase documents obtained by Insider.
The gallery received a commission of 40 to 45 percent on total sales of $1,379,000.
The new subpoenas come after Comer hit Hunter and James Biden with subpoenas on Wednesday as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into the Biden family business dealings.
The committee has asked Hunter Biden to come in on December 13 and James Biden to come in on December 6.
Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell said in a statement that the president’s son would comply with the subpoena. He called it a “political stunt,” but said, “Still. Hunter would like the opportunity to discuss these matters with the Commission in a public forum and at an appropriate time.”
Committee Chairman James Comer is also requesting transcribed interviews with Melissa Cohen, Hunter’s wife, Sara Biden, Frank’s wife, Hallie Biden, Hunter’s ex-girlfriend and Beau Biden’s widow, Elizabeth Secundy, Hallie’s sister with whom Hunter is said to have had a romantic relationship. with while she was married, and Hunter employee Tony Bobulinski.
