Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, on Wednesday defended questions from the press to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki regarding the art sales of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Shaub, who served under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, responded to a video of Psaki replying, during Tuesday’s White House press briefing, to New York Post reporter Steven Nelson’s questions on the art sales.
“We at The New York Post reported on Friday that the First Son had sold five prints of his artworks for $75,000 each and that a team of lawyers is reviewing prospective buyers who are going to be allowed into an upcoming New York show,” said Nelson.
“That seems to suggest a departure from the White House-brokered agreement where the purchasers would be anonymous,” he continued. “I was hoping you could say if the White House knows who purchased the five prints and whether there is indeed a departure to the arrangement that there would anonymity here.”
“I know this is your favorite topic,” replied Psaki. “But
In a Twitter thread, Shaub took Psaki to task. “These are legitimate questions. It’s disappointing to hear [Jen Psaki] send a message that the WH thinks the public has no right to ask about ethics,” he wrote. “After the last 4 years, these questions have never been more important. I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but this stuff matters.”
“It doesn’t matter that Trump was worse,” he added. “What matters is that this sets a low bar for ethics.”
In the long thread, Shaub extensively blasts both Psaki’s response and the situation itself, not to mention fisking any objection to his calling it out.
“Now, look, many Twitter users have made clear they hate hearing this. But it is objectively bad. It would be better not to pretend this isn’t bad. Those individuals should just admit that, like Trump supporters, they don’t care about ethics when their guy is in charge,” he wrote.
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