Staff Reports
On Monday, Devon Archer, who used to be Hunter Biden's business partner, testified before the US House Oversight Committee about the allegations of corruption involving the president and his son. Although his testimony did not offer a clear explanation as to how the allegations could have been made, it did help align with some of them. For instance, Archer noted that, in 2014, the Ukrainian energy company Burisma hired Hunter Biden due to his connection to the vice president.
According to Archer, the executives of Burisma pressured Hunter Biden to get involved with the Obama administration to stop a criminal investigation into the company's head. To create a perception of his influence, Hunter Biden would regularly call his father. Eventually, Joe Biden convinced the Ukrainian leaders to remove the prosecutor overseeing the investigation.
This testimony is significant due to how Archer worked closely with Biden in Ukraine while he was on the board of directors of Burisma. It shows that his family's connection to the company was the main reason why Hunter Biden was valued.
Archer's timeline aligns with the findings of the FBI, which uncovered a bribery allegation in 2020. He also noted that Zlochevsky of Burisma urged Hunter Biden to get the support of the US government to remove the prosecutor. In 2015, Biden admitted that he asked for the prosecutor's removal during his visit to Ukraine.
Although Archer's testimony doesn't directly prove that Joe Biden benefited financially from his son's work with Buristica, it supports the claims made by a confidential informant for the FBI, who claimed that the Bidens were working with Zlochevsky to protect the firm. According to the informant, executives of the company believed that Hunter Biden would use his father's power to protect it.
Devon Archer, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, gave testimony to the House Oversight Committee that, according to a summary, appeared to be consistent with elements of a bribery allegation made against the Bidens, though short of a smoking gun.https://t.co/5s6SOLzao3
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 1, 2023
Archer also confirmed that during their conversations, Hunter Biden would refer to his father as his "guy." Democrats, however, played down the significance of the calls made by Hunter Biden, saying that they were mainly for small talk. Despite this, the informant did not claim that there was a direct collaboration between the vice president and Burisma's executives.
The testimony of Archer raised more questions about Biden's connections with foreign entities. For instance, he met with a Russian oligarch, and he intervened on behalf of a Chinese businessman's daughter. This suggests that he might have conflicts of interest, and the transcript of his testimony could provide more insight into his involvement.
