Republican lawmakers finally heard from Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden's, after multiple attempts to get him to appear for a congressional deposition.
Archer, who previously served as a board member of Burisma Holdings, an energy company based in Ukraine, alongside Biden and co-founded Rosemont Seneca Partners with the president's son, testified Monday before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door meeting. Republicans on the panel have long sought to hear from Archer, who failed to show up for three earlier dates. Committee Chairman James Comer had previously set a June 16 deadline for Archer's deposition.
Archer's testimony comes as House Republicans have ramped up their efforts to link President Joe Biden to his son's business dealings. They allege that the elder Biden influenced foreign policy—and even engaged in a bribery scheme—during his time as vice president to help his son's career. The White House has strongly denied those allegations.
Comer said Archer's testimony is critical to his committee's investigation into the younger Biden because Archer was his business associate in a number of transactions that involved foreign companies.
"Mr. Archer is associated with corporate entities that the Committee has identified and the Biden family's role in each of them," the Kentucky Republican wrote to Archer's counsel in a June 12 letter. "Furthermore, he has significant information regarding the purpose of these companies and knowledge of relevant documents related to the Committee's investigation."
In a Twitter thread, GOP lawmakers on the oversight panel said, "Archer's testimony confirms Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son's business dealings and was not involved."
The lawmakers also said Archer testified that Joe Biden had joined his son and his business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times, that the younger Biden was added to Burisma's board because of his father, and that Burisma executives put constant pressure on Hunter to get help from Washington, D.C., regarding a Ukrainian prosecutor that was investigating the company.
But comments from one Democratic lawmaker on the oversight panel cast doubt as to whether Archer provided House Republicans with the smoking gun they had hoped to find.
Representative Dan Goldman said after Archer's deposition that there had been no testimony that bolstered the Republican's claims and that the only action Archer said the president took was not in his son's favor.
"There is not a shred of evidence of a single conflict of interest of President Biden ever doing anything in connection or in relation to Hunter Biden's business ventures, other than advocating for the removal of a prosecutor general who was advantageous to Burisma," the New York Democrat told reporters.
"The only evidence we have right now of any official action by President Biden in connection to Hunter Biden's business interests is bad for Hunter Biden's business interests," he said.
Goldman said the only evidence that exists before lawmakers is that Biden had cordially spoken to Archer at times he saw his son with his business associate, adding that he thought it was unfair to ask the president to not acknowledge Archer if he were to run into him. Goldman said that the father and son spoke every day, but Hunter never discussed his business dealings on those calls, even those when his business associates were present. He said that over 10 years Biden may have put his father on the phone approximately 20 times.
"The witness was very, very consistent, that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions," Goldman said during a break in the hearing. "They were purely what he called casual conversation."
Newsweek reached out to Goldman via email for comment.
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, on the other hand, said those calls were damning.
"We have Devon Archer coming out and telling the truth that Hunter Biden and Joe Biden spoke over 20 times about his business deals, not about the weather, not about what was for lunch about his business deals," Greene told the Daily Mail after hearing from Archer.
GOP Representative Andy Biggs said Archer told lawmakers that "Burisma would have gone out of business sooner if the Biden brand had not been invoked. People would be intimidated to really mess with Burisma because of the Biden family brand."
Fox News' Chad Pergram said that the transcribed interview showed Archer testifying about going to dinner with Biden, his father, other associates and Elena Baturina, a Russian billionaire who was married to the former mayor of Moscow, in 2014.
Republican Representative Jim Jordan told reporters after the deposition that he had learned new information and that the meeting had been productive, but he did not provide any additional details about what he learned from Archer. Newsweek reached out to Jordan via email for comment.
Over the weekend, the Justice Department submitted a new request asking a judge to schedule a date for Archer to begin serving his one-year prison sentence in an unrelated fraud case. The letter prompted Republican backlash that accused the department of trying to block Archer's Monday testimony even though prosecutors specifically asked for the prison sentence to begin after his congressional deposition.
Archer's attorneys shut down this speculation, saying his client intended to show up on Capitol Hill Monday to answer questions from congressional investigators looking into the president's son.
Update 7/31/23, 5:07 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from Republican members of the House Oversight Committee.
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