The wealthy Democratic philanthropist who traded works of art with Hunter Biden is caught up in a web of intrigue and now has a position on a federal commission that has a history of corruption, secrecy, and the swaying of member financial interests.
Elizabeth Hirsch Naftali, a prolific donor to Democratic political campaigns, has received special attention from President Joe Biden when he appointed her to the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. This action follows a well-known pattern, recalling President Barack Obama’s 2015 appointment of Hunter’s business colleague and confidant, Eric Schwerin, to the same position.
It’s possible that this commission’s shrouded profile is what draws Hunter’s friends to it despite its reputation. It serves as a governmental body where one might amass a sizable government salary while constructing complex global networks. Emails recovered from Hunter’s abandoned laptop had hints of this attraction, in which Schwerin described the commission’s potential power over foreign organizations—a concept that emerged during Obama’s presidential campaign.
The executive helmsman of the commission during Schwerin’s tenure, Jeffrey Farrow, was paid a stratospheric $143,000 year for what amounted to a little contribution. At the same time, Katarina Ryan, the commission’s sole full-time employee, filed a complaint with federal authorities in 2013, alleging that Farrow’s efforts hardly amounted to a single day’s work. Ryan’s claim was taken to mean that Farrow spent over 90% of his time working within the government compound to create a successful foreign lobbying operation. According to information obtained from publicly available papers detailing Farrow’s lobbying activities, this intricate dance of influence netted him returns as high as $750,000 year.
Her complaint, “This epitomizes exploiting public office for personal enrichment,” was captured in Ryan’s whistleblower letter, highlighting her displeasure “with the federal government footing the bill for a lobbyist’s expenses.”
Using the phrase “Simultaneously enmeshed in government machinations while fervently advocating for a foreign government—a gambit of audacity,” a legal expert experienced in navigating the complexities of lobbying cases compared this situation to the scrutiny surrounding Hunter’s dalliance in foreign lobbying. The New York Times echoed this idea.
The complex story of Farrow reveals a recurrent pattern—a symbiotic dance with the State Department and legislative leaders, carried out in his official position. While simultaneously furthering the goals of his lobbying clientele before the same power corridors, he was pleading with other countries to protect historic sites.
Evidently, the commission has a tendency to refuse to cooperate with the numerous federal agencies trying to look into how it operates. The inquiry by the General Services Administration (GSA) inspector general was constrained, limited in scope, and prevented from becoming the basis for criminal charges unless specifically approved by the commission.
Only on Senator Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) request was the curtain separating the final report from the inspector general’s inquiry lifted as part of a larger Senate Homeland Security investigation into the commission. Even at that point, Leslie Weiss, the chairperson of the panel, attempted to hinder the investigation committee from receiving the results by intervening with the GSA. According to a letter sent by Senator Johnson in 2015, the senator ultimately got over these barriers and obtained access to the study by speaking with the GSA directly.
The persons associated with the mysterious governmental structure had a preference for forging papers and treating it as a personal treasure, according to discoveries detailed in the inspector general’s investigation. The key takeaway from Senator Johnson’s statement was that “invoices were meticulously crafted to extract the maximum taxpayer funding.”
Additional information came to light linking the former commission chairman Warren Miller to a tricky balancing act. Miller appeared to be using his position’s numerous advantages to further his legal career while simultaneously abusing it.
Farrow and other staff members were mislabeled as contractors by the commission in order to skirt federal laws even though their roles and contractual responsibilities were identical to those of regular employees, an unlawful tactic that the inspector general exposed. As the commission expanded its recruiting area to include contractors from a business run by Farrow’s cousin, a deeper level of deception became apparent.
Following her whistleblower report, Ryan was briefly suspended, but the commission kept Farrow on. In November 2015, President Obama was informed by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which is in charge of looking into retaliation against whistleblowers, that Weiss, the then-head of the panel, had interfered with the investigation by giving implicated parties access to sensitive material.
The OSC’s letter to Chair Weiss, which President Obama received, clarified the murky situation by declaring that both Messrs. Miller and Farrow should disqualify themselves from the case since they were the targets of the charges. However, the details offered to OSC demonstrate that Mr. Farrow had a direct part in the commission’s decision to resolve this issue. In addition to the fact that he was the main issue, Mr. Farrow’s engagement in the settlement of these problems was problematic since it provided room for self-dealing.
Although the exact timeline of the art transaction is still unknown, Naftali started her governmental career in July 2022, or around eight months after Hunter’s first solo show. Hunter’s artistic works have brought in princely sums of up to $500,000. In contrast to the Biden administration’s claims that the art gallery would be the only one to know the identity of buyers, a Business Insider story implied that Hunter knew at least two buyers’ identities.
Naftali has given Biden and his group a lot of assistance in recent years. She recently hosted a fundraiser event with Vice President Kamala Harris as the star attraction, which is one significant example. She has reportedly walked through the Biden White House’s hallways more than a dozen times, with the most recent instance being noted in March of this year.