With President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden receiving criticism for his art studio and past financial dealings, a Florida Republican congressman says he's set to introduce a bill that will require presidents and vice presidents to provide financial disclosures for their non-dependent children.
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Rep. Michael Waltz introduced what he called the Preventing Anonymous Income by Necessitating Transparency of Executive Relatives (PAINTER) Act. This legislation would stop “the obvious and shameless grift that’s going on with Hunter Biden’s art sales, for which he is obviously not qualified to do and is only doing to continue to profit off of his family name,” Waltz said to Fox News.
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Currently, only spouses and dependent children of presidents and vice presidents must provide financial disclosures under the Ethics in Government Act. The act was initially put in place following the Watergate scandal.
This comes as Hunter will present a solo exhibition of 15 paintings throughout galleries in New York and Los Angeles in the fall. The art ranges in price from $75,000 to $500,000, The New York Post reported.
Some critics have said that those purchasing his art are doing so to curry favor with the West Wing.
“The whole thing is a really bad idea,” former George W. Bush chief ethics lawyer Richard Painter said to The Washington Post. “The initial reaction a lot of people are going to have is that he’s capitalizing on being the son of a president and wants people to give him a lot of money. I mean, those are awfully high prices.”
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The situation became murkier when the Post reported last month that White House officials came to an agreement that will keep the identity of buyers confidential. Then, Hunter said he would be at both galleries, which contradicted what White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said in a press conference.
“The gallerist will not share information about buyers or prospective buyers, including their identities, with Hunter Biden or the administration,” she said.
The legislation is expected to be introduced by Waltz on Wednesday. If passed, it will amend the Ethics in Government Act to require financial disclosures of all children or step-children of the president and vice president over the age of 17.