Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer testified to the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door hearing on Monday, CBS News reported.
According to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, Archer revealed that Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings placed Hunter on the board for “the brand,” and that then-Vice President Joe Biden was the one who brought the most value to this “brand.”
Archer said that without the Biden “brand,” Burisma would have gone under, according to Comer.
To sell “the brand,” Joe Biden was put on the phone with Burisma, Comer explained.
Archer testified that Hunter put his father on speakerphone during his business meetings over twenty times, Comer said.
However, Democrat Oversight member Dan Goldman painted a very different picture of Archer’s testimony, telling reporters that Archer consistently said that the phone conversations involving the elder Biden had nothing to do with “any business dealings or transactions.”
The White House has maintained that President Biden had no involvement in his son’s business deals.
In a statement on Monday, White House spokesman Ian Sams claimed that Archer’s testimony debunked the allegations made by Republicans in the House. He said it “appears” that the “much-hyped witness” called by Republicans “never heard” Biden discuss business with Hunter or his associates during those phone calls.
Adding to the spin, Hunter’s attorney Abbe Lowell claimed that Archer’s closed-door testimony confirmed that the president’s son never involved his father in his business deals, nor did Joe Biden “assist him.” Lowell claimed that the interactions between Joe Biden and Hunter’s business associates “was simply to exchange small talk.”
In his June letter to Devon Archer’s attorney, Chairman Comer alleged that Archer played a central role in the Biden family’s foreign business deals, including in China, Ukraine, and Russia.
In 2018, Archer was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud but his conviction was later overturned that same year.
Archer’s conviction was reinstated on appeal.
