# Hunter Biden artwork attracts ethics scrutiny **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 8, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031 "2021-07-08T21:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/161 "2021-07-10T01:08:29Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > No one can force a sitting president to wear a suit jacket any time they’re in the oval office, but doing so avoids Fox and Friends from crapping all over them. Unless it’s a tan jacket, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/162 "2021-07-10T02:30:01Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Unless it’s a tan jacket, of course. You mean like this?: [![](https://barkbarkwoofwoof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/reagan-tan-suit-08-29-14.jpg) ](https://barkbarkwoofwoof.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/reagan-tan-suit-08-29-14.jpg) And if Fox was around today, what would they say about this (were it worn by a Democratic president, of course)?: [![](https://thedailybanter.com/.image/t_share/MTM2NjQ1MDM4NzEyMTA0NTQz/reagan_plaid.jpg) ](https://thedailybanter.com/.image/t_share/MTM2NjQ1MDM4NzEyMTA0NTQz/reagan_plaid.jpg) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/163 "2021-07-10T02:35:24Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > And if Fox was around today, what would they say about this (were it worn by a Democratic president, of course)?: > [https://thedailybanter.com/.image/t\_share/MTM2NjQ1MDM4NzEyMTA0NTQz/reagan\_plaid.jpg](https://thedailybanter.com/.image/t_share/MTM2NjQ1MDM4NzEyMTA0NTQz/reagan_plaid.jpg) > > Stranger - I wouldn’t buy a used car from that man. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/164 "2021-07-10T03:12:54Z")
The neat thing about this “scandal” is that anything Joe Biden does to “fix” it actually makes it worse by entangling Joe Biden in it, thereby prolonging the issue. Like, there are people who seem to simultaneously want Joe Biden to be several arms’ lengths from his son’s dealing while also doing some unspecified _thing_ to end it, which is impossible. The only solution that actually solves everything is that Hunter Biden is just magically reformed into a person who makes only the most wise and prudent decisions in all areas of his life, but he is 51 years old, so that is probably not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/165 "2021-07-10T03:14:26Z")
Thought experiment a: if this is wrong, is Michelle Obama’s multi-million dollar book deal wrong? Both are clearly cashing in on their relationship with the President, no? Thought experiment b: if Eric Trump had started selling paintings while his dad was in office, would Democrats have objected? Maybe in passing, but we’d have been too busy talking about the myriads of REAL scandals perpetuated by that aboministration to pay much attention. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/166 "2021-07-10T03:22:02Z")
What is your solution, other than “nobody related to the President should ever have a job”? It’s ducking ludicrous that you’re worried about Foreign Influences corrupting our pristine political system by buying paintings at prices possibly up to…(Dr. Evil voice) ONE. MILLION. DOLLARS!! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/167 "2021-07-10T05:45:58Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It’s actually not bad art, IMO It looks ok. So do Spirographs on your fridge that your 7-year old son made. Hunter used paint and a straw instead of pens poking through gears inside other gears. I remember blowing wet paint across manila paper. My dad liked my art, too. I never sold any. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/168 "2021-07-10T05:50:08Z")
How about an experiment? Someone from the boards go ahead and buy one of these paintings. Go to the White House with it, tell the Secret Service gate guards what it is and see if they let you in. There is a lot of magical thinking going on in this thread. It seems that not only does Hunter Biden know magic, he is also unusually proficient in it and that keeps people up at night because they don’t know magic. They can never have what Hunter Biden has: a lifestyle fit for the rich and famous but thoughtlessly given to someone who doesn’t _deserve_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/169 "2021-07-10T07:12:20Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > A blind transaction is a perfectly cromulent method of making sure nobody’s getting any favors for buying Hunter’s artwork. But it’s not the only ethical problem, and it’s not the biggest optical problem. Are you kidding? If someone tells Hunter they will buy his macaroni art for $500,000, and lo and behold an anonymous macaroni art enthusiast bids $500,000, everyone who needs to will kmow exactly where the purchase came from. If they need proof, the buyer can send them a picture of the damned thing. This is a charade. What the ‘blind’ sale does is keep the public from knowing who is paying this kind of money to the son of a President, and protect Biden from liability if the buyer happens to be an agent for some state or large corporation, say one looking for a subsidy for their proposed infrastructure project. The idea that a guy who just learned to paint a little while ago, with no history of selling any paintings, would be able to collect this amount of money from legitimate buyers seems pretty iffy. And that’s being charitable. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/170 "2021-07-10T07:23:54Z")
Ivanka worked for her dad. Why are you buying into this transparent bullshit? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/171 "2021-07-10T07:28:32Z")
What wrongdoing? What has Joe Biden done wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/172 "2021-07-10T09:17:54Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What wrongdoing? What has Joe Biden done wrong? Clearly, you haven’t watched enough Fox News and OANN. In the span of less than six months, Joe Biden stole the election from the the rightful candidate (using ballots filled out by dead people imported from Southeast Asia), has turned the United States into a crypto-fascist Marxist hell-hole, imported Muslim terrorists by the millions, and personally eats an aborted human fetus for breakfast every morning after talking to the Pope about setting up death camps for Protestants. Next thing you know, he’s going to deny that the South won the Civil War and that slaves weren’t happy toiling away for their masters. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/173 "2021-07-10T10:57:04Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > What the ‘blind’ sale does is keep the public from knowing who is paying this kind of money to the son of a President, and protect Biden from liability if the buyer happens to be an agent for some state or large corporation, say one looking for a subsidy for their proposed infrastructure project. - At least Trump was completely open about who was buying access to him and who he was selling out the country to. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/174 "2021-07-10T11:02:11Z")
The NY Post can hardly be accused of being a Hunter Biden fan, but they say his artwork is pretty good. > **[Hunter Biden’s artwork is actually good and will be worth a lot, experts say](https://nypost.com/2021/06/15/hunter-bidens-artwork-is-actually-good-experts-say/)** > > This will help stroke his ego! Scandal-tarnished first son Hunter Biden’s newfound career as a painter may actually prove to be a success — as experts say his artwork is impressive and … It’s certainly on par with some of the expensive post-modern art I’ve seen, but art is weird, some distinctly unimpressive stuff consistently fetches the big bucks. Like On Kawara’s date paintings, and pretty much every rich person I ever worked for has at least one of those. > **[On Kawara’s Date Paintings - For Sale on Artsy](https://www.artsy.net/artist-series/on-kawara-date-paintings)** > > Discover and collect art from On Kawara’s iconic Date Paintings series and more. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/175 "2021-07-10T12:18:27Z")
Two takes on the situation, for those who are interested. It’s probably a stretch to liken either the AP or CNN to OANN: > **[White House helped form ethics agreement with art gallery that's selling...](https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/08/politics/hunter-biden-art-work-sale/index.html)** > > Hunter Biden's artistic debut is sparking ethics concerns for the White House as some critics raise eyebrows over the high-priced pieces and whether they pose a conflict of interest. > **[Hunter Biden paintings pose ethical challenge for president](https://news.yahoo.com/hunter-biden-paintings-pose-ethical-204237799.html)** > > The White House has established an arrangement that would allow President Joe Biden’s son Hunter to sell his artwork for tens of thousands of dollars without knowing the identity of the purchaser, an agreement established in attempt to avoid any... ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/176 "2021-07-10T12:22:33Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Ivanka worked for her dad. Why are you buying into this transparent bullshit? I’m well aware of the Trump crime family structure. It’s possible to actually have a negative general opinion of Hunter Biden and his knack for failing up, while not compromising the position that in every way, the Trumps are worse. Why the fuck is it always down to an either/or proposition? Not everything needs to be turned into a progressive litmus test. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/177 "2021-07-10T12:24:17Z")
I can’t let the Uranium One conspiracy theory go by unchallenged. [This simple chart (the bottom one)](https://www.vox.com/2017/11/17/16658080/uranium-one-clinton-russia-chart) sums it up well. [Factcheck.org has a nice summary](https://www.factcheck.org/2017/10/facts-uranium-one/), [as does Snopes.](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-uranium-russia-deal/) It wasn’t Hillary’s deal to approve or disapprove, of the $145 million donation to the Clinton Foundation, $141 came from one investor who sold his stake in the company three years before the deal. Uranium One currently accounts for less than 10% of the uranium production in the US. Finally, the uranium did not wind up going to Russia as the company has no export license. There is no there there. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/178 "2021-07-10T12:28:00Z")
But this is what I said: > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Despite the totality of Uranium One, HRC made one equivalent error that was used against her ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/179 "2021-07-10T12:29:13Z")
I’d like to agree with this, and potentially amplify it. I was involved in a perfectly reasonable discussion about vaccinations during the early days of COVID. But talking about _individual_ levels of risk of a given vaccine in comparison to the _individual_ risk of contracting (and how severely they would experience) the disease – something we can’t currently know, but – to many people (parents, particularly) – something of paramount importance – resulted in me being lumped in with the “anti-vaxxers” and attacked mercilessly and with surprising venom. Not everybody one step to the right of you is a John Bircher. Not everybody one step to the left of you is Fidel Castro. My vote for what slows the growth of SDMB via attracting and retaining new blood ? This. This has to be high on that list. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031/180 "2021-07-10T12:31:52Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Your ideas that Hunter should sell the paintings under a pseudonym or wait until after Joe leaves office are both incredibly poor business decisions from Hunter’s standpoint. He would be foolish to take those courses of action even if Joe insisted upon them. You’re right. When your father is the president of the US and defacto leader of the free world, your focus as his only surviving son with a track record of screwing up most of your life should be to continue to do what’s in your own best interest, not in doing everything reasonably possible not to make your dad’s life any more complicated than it already is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunter-biden-artwork-attracts-ethics-scrutiny/946031.md?page=10)