Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris bought $875,000 worth of artwork produced by President Joe Biden’s son, but $525,000 of the purchase price—representing Hunter Biden’s commission on the sale—never made it to the dealer.
That is according to the transcript of New York art gallerist George Berges’s deposition with Congressional investigators.
During a Jan. 9 interview, Mr. Berges confirmed to House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability investigators that Hunter Biden knew the details of the transaction despite a clause in their contract that barred the artist from being informed of who was buying his work.
The full transcript of Mr. Berges’s deposition was reviewed by The Epoch Times.
“Hunter did know because ... I think it went against his payment against the debt that ... Hunter owed him. So ... he had to have known who it was, yes. So he did know,” Mr. Berges responded when asked by an oversight panel attorney.
Mr. Morris is often described in media reports as Hunter Biden’s “Sugar Brother” as a result of his paying an estimated $5 million on behalf of the presidential son’s housing, media relations, accounting and legal fees, and overdue tax expenses.
Mr. Morris is well-known in the art world as a prolific collector, Mr. Berges told investigators, and somebody he knew before meeting Hunter Biden.
“When you go to his house, it’s filled with art. I mean, he has, obviously, an entity that specializes in buying art. He bought ... Hunter’s two years prior or so.
“He had bought other artists of mine. So he bought, he was focused on some of my other artists, so he was a collector.”
Under normal procedures, Mr. Berges told investigators, he would be paid the entire purchase price by the collector, deduct his commission, and then issue a payment to the artist for the remainder. Under their contract, Mr. Berges said he got 40 percent of the proceeds from a sale and Hunter Biden received 60 percent.
In the Morris transaction, however, Mr. Berges said he only received his 40 percent of the $875,000 total purchase price. He did not know if Hunter Biden actually received his portion or if Mr. Morris simply kept it.
He said this purchase was the only time he had completed such a transaction in that manner.
Mr. Berges also said he did not know if Hunter Biden received a 1099 tax form from his firm for reporting income that included the $525,000 portion of the purchase by Mr. Morris.
Mr. Berges emphasized that he was not responsible for Hunter Biden knowing that Mr. Morris was making the purchase that represented nearly 70 percent of the $1.5 million in sales the gallerist handled while representing the president’s son.
The non-disclosure, or “ethics” clause in the contract, was inserted in September 2021 at Hunter Biden’s insistence several months after the two men initially agreed to enter into a working relationship without such a stipulation.
It is standard procedure in the art world for artists not to be told the identities of buyers of their work, however, Mr. Berges told Congressional investigators that before September 2021 he was required to tell Hunter Biden who bought his artwork.
Mr. Berges said “Yes,” according to the transcript, when asked by an investigator for the Republican majority if before September 2021 “the agreement that you had with Hunter Biden called for you to disclose to Hunter Biden who the purchasers, who the purchasers of his art were, correct?”
Mr. Berges’s assertion that Hunter Biden required the non-disclosure agreement appears to conflict with news reports in 2021 that White House officials were directly involved in negotiating the contract revision.
Then-White House press spokesman Jen Psaki referred to the talks on multiple occasions.
Mr. Berges insisted when asked multiple times that he did not remember how Hunter Biden broached the issue of adding the non-disclosure clause to the original contract.
“It was an ongoing conversation. So it just ...” Mr. Berges said in response to one question on the issue.
Pressed on what he meant by “ongoing conversation,” Mr. Berges declared: “No, I mean, it’s, you know what? I don’t remember. I don’t want to get into, I don’t want to make declarative statements if I can’t actually do so.”
The extended back and forth regarding how Mr. Biden sought inclusion of the non-disclosure clause culminated with Mr. Berges insisting that: “I just remember that he said we should redo the contract.
According to the transcript, the contract did not include—either before or after the added clause—any requirements for what would result from Hunter Biden learning from any source the identity of buyers of his artwork.
A majority investigator asked: “So was there any discussion with the White House, with Hunter Biden about what would be done? Would there be a refund of the money? Like how would that work?
“Otherwise, this agreement is completely toothless. And so how, what was built in there to prevent ... Hunter Biden finding out about the buyer?”
Mr. Berges responded, “Well, no.”
Gallerist Was a Trump Donor
An Epoch Times review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) data found Mr. Berges made 58 separate contributions—worth $992—directly to the Trump campaign, or to President Trump via the Republican National Committee’s WinRed entity.He also made four contributions totaling $200 to ActBlue, a liberal Democrat political action committee that passes along donor money to multiple candidates.
Mr. Berges said he was particularly impressed by how Hunter Biden dealt with his drug addictions.
“I always like to tell people that, you know, Hunter, like so many of us, faced a crossroads in his life. And he could keep going and die or do the hard thing, which is to change, and he did the hard thing.
“And I think in many ways this is why I think we like movies like ‘Rocky,’ right? We cheer for someone because he’s not supposed to win.
“To me, that’s America. And I like that narrative. And I saw that he was a great artist and it was reflected in his art and it was inspirational. And that was my motivation ... working with him.”
Mr. Berges also emphasized that he believes Hunter Biden “is a great artist” and considers him “one of my best friends.”
Despite their close friendship, however, he and Hunter Biden have not agreed to extend their contracted business relationship.
“We’re friends, whatever. But I haven’t ... made the decision whether to extend the contract.
“It, from a business perspective, it hasn’t been the best decision for me.
“And ... I never expected the whole security issue, or the death threats, and people assuming political affiliation ... it was a little bit more than I could chew.
“Obviously, I kind of wanted my life back. So I haven’t agreed to renew that contract now.”
