A prominent Democratic Party donor who purchased art from Hunter Biden, Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, is expected to be a key witness for House impeachment investigators in the new year as Republicans try to prove the existence of an “influence-peddling scheme” between the Biden family and the private sector. 

Ms. Naftali’s lawyers previously told Congress, in response to a subpoena from the Oversight Committee chairman, Congressman James Comer, that she could not testify because her grandniece had been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. The child was released in late November during a brief cease-fire and hostages-for-prisoners exchange with Israel.

Ms. Naftali, the heiress to a garment and real estate fortune, served as a finance committee member for both the Clinton 2016 and Biden 2020 campaigns and also as deputy finance chair for the Democratic National Committee, was unmasked as a patron of Mr. Biden’s lucrative career as a self-trained artist.

Insider first reported that Ms. Naftali had purchased up to $500,000 worth of artwork from the first son, whose “powerful and impactful paintings [range] from photogenic to mixed media to the abstract,” according to the gallery which marketed the artwork at prices art experts said were high for a self-trained artists at the beginning of his career. 

In July 2022, the president appointed Ms. Naftali to the prestigious Commision for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, an American body, chaired by television celebrity Star Jones, that focuses on protecting Jewish heritage sites in Eastern Europe. It’s not clear if Ms. Naftali’s  appointment came before or after her purchase of the younger Mr. Biden’s art. The committee chairman leading the investigation, Mr. Comer, says Ms. Naftali’s art purchase “raises the committee’s concerns” and that her committee appointment is an example of the Bidens’ “influence-peddling scheme.”

Mr. Comer subpoenaed Ms. Naftali to appear for a deposition before his committee after Insider disclosed that she was one of Mr. Biden’s biggest-spending art patrons. Ms. Naftali’s lawyer, Jason Abel, and a spokesman for the Oversight Committee have not returned requests for comment. 

“The fact remains that Ms. Naftali’s anonymity regarding her purchase of Hunter Biden’s art is no more and her position on a prestigious commission within the Biden Administration raises the Committees’ concerns,” Mr. Comer wrote to Mr. Abel on November 9. “To date, your client has refused to provide any of the requested information. The Committees therefore intend to question Ms. Naftali, among other things, about her purchase of Hunter Biden’s artwork and her appointment to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.”

Democrats slammed Mr. Comer for issuing the subpoena while Ms. Naftali was under duress because her then-three-year-old grandniece, Abigail Mor Idan, had been kidnapped by Hamas after her parents were killed in southern Israel on October 7. 

“Elizabeth Naftali’s three-year-old niece is currently being held hostage by Hamas, yet James Comer is spending his time subpoenaing a private citizen as part of his wild goose chase rather than working to return her family from captivity,” an Oversight Committee Democrat, Congressman Dan Goldman, wrote on X. “This is a new low from House Republicans.”

The top Democrat on the committee, Congressman Jamie Raskin, called the subpoenas for Ms. Naftali a fishing expedition. “These subpoenas and interview requests are yet further proof that this sham impeachment inquiry is driven only by the demands of the vengeful and prevaricating Donald Trump,” Mr. Raskin said in a statement. “Chairman Comer has decided what he needs to jump-start this epic flop of an investigation is a big pile of subpoenas and interview requests, all to private citizens.”

The child, who was the youngest American hostage taken that day, was freed in late November in a hostages-for-prisoners exchange between Israel and Hamas. In a readout of the president’s call with Qatari officials who were helping negotiate the hostages’ release, the White House said Mr. Biden mentioned Ms. Naftali’s grandniece.  

“He condemned unequivocally the holding of hostages by Hamas, including many young children, one of whom is a 3-year old American citizen toddler, whose parents were killed by Hamas on October 7th,” the White House said in a statement. “The two leaders agreed that all hostages must be released without further delay.”

Whether or not Ms. Naftali complies with the subpoena and appears before Congress will be determined in the coming weeks as the House reconvenes on January 9 to continue its investigation. 

While she evades the congressional subpoena, Ms. Naftali has traveled to Israel to advocate for the hostages’ release and has also launched a new podcast in which she talks to California liberals such as a former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Asked about Mr. Biden in a December interview with Deadline Hollywood promoting her podcast, Ms. Naftali said that, “I’ve fully cooperated with everything they have asked of me, which whatever there is public is public. But it continues to be that there really is nothing there.” 

She did not clarify to Deadline how she was fully cooperating when she has not complied with Mr. Comer’s subpoena.

When she was advocating on Capitol Hill for the hostages’ release, “not one person” asked her about her purchase of Hunter Biden’s paintings, Ms. Naftali told Deadline.

The younger Mr. Biden — already facing criminal charges on both the east and west coasts — is himself at risk of being jailed for openly defying a subpoena. GOP lawmakers say they will move to formally hold him in contempt of Congress when the House reconvenes for the new year.