The paintings of Joe Biden's son at the heart of a parliamentary inquiry

Paintings by the son of Joe Biden, a former businessman turned artist, were at the center of a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday by Republicans, who accuse the family of

.

The head of a powerful House committee has written to a New York gallery exhibiting Hunter Biden's works, demanding that it provide Congress with a list of buyers of his works.

“Your agreement with Hunter Biden raises serious ethical issues and raises the question of whether the Biden family is once again trading in their contacts and influence

,” says Republican James Comer in this missive.

He also invites the owner of the gallery, Georges Bergès, to testify before Congress in February.

Hunter Biden is one of the favorite targets of the Republican camp which, with its new majority in the House of Representatives, has promised to open a series of investigations into the Democratic president.

“

It is certainly not a Picasso”

The Republicans point in particular to the risk that industrialists or financiers buy his works for the sole purpose of currying favor with the White House.

According to James Comer, some of the paintings exhibited by the New York gallery Georges Bergès cost up to 225,000 dollars.

, ”said the elected conservative on Twitter.

Asked by AFP, the gallery did not immediately comment.

In recent days, she had been promoting Hunter Biden acrylics on these social networks.

They are still on the gallery's account.

The Biden administration, which wishes to present itself as ethically irreproachable, has been repeatedly questioned about the artistic career of the son of Joe Biden, a former lawyer and businessman.

The president's youngest son has regularly been criticized for having economic interests in Ukraine and China when his father was Barack Obama's vice-president (2009-2017).