The congressional testimony of Devon Archer, the former business associate and confidant of Hunter Biden, has been released
Devon Archer, the former business associate and confidant of Hunter Biden, told the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability that Ukrainian energy company Burisma employed Archer and Biden because the Biden family “brand” would help the embattled company avoid legal battles.
Today Rep. James Comer, who chairs the committee, released the full transcript of Archer’s testimony to Congress. In excerpts of the testimony made available on the House website, Archer stressed that the Biden “brand” was a significant value to Burisma, where Hunter made more than $80,000 per month to sit on the board despite his extreme lack of experience.
Asked how he knew the value of the Biden “brand” was of paramount value to the company, Archer replied, “My basis for knowing that? Well, I think there was ‑‑ there are particular, you know, objectives that Burisma was trying to accomplish. And a lot of it’s about opening doors, you know, globally in D.C. And I think that, you know, that was the, you know ‑‑ and then obviously having those doors opened, you know, sent the right signals, you know, for Burisma to, you know, carry on its business and be successful.”
He later said that Burisma “was able to survive for as long as it did” only “because of the brand,” and clarified that Hunter and his family name provided the ability to “be in the news cycle.” It also made Burisma’s detractors “afraid to mess with them” “legally” because of the family name.
Archer also detailed the business meetings in which Hunter would call father Joe to speak to a room on speaker phone, or when he would privately speak to the then-Vice President and return to a business meeting, and revealed that Hunter regularly stressed his close relationship with his father.
“But he ‑‑ they spoke every day,” said Archer. He added that Hunter “acknowledged that they spoke every day,” and “would sometimes make it apparent that he spoke to his dad, and sometimes he put him on speaker.” Archer confirmed that he remembers witnessing “maybe 20” calls between Hunter and Joe Biden, and acknowledged that Joe was on speaker phone for some of those calls.
In one business meeting, Archer recalls Burisma asking if Hunter could obtain “help from D.C.” Joe Biden’s name was not mentioned directly.
Archer explained that the request was in response to “government pressure from Ukrainian Government investigations” that may have related to Viktor Shokin, a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma when Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. funding unless he was fired.
“To the best, I vaguely ‑‑ whether it was Shokin, I vague ‑‑ there was a lot of pressure initially,” said Archer. “It was kind of a theme of Burisma.”
He explained, “There was capital tied up in London, 23 million pounds. There was, you know, a U.S. visa denied and then a Mexico visa denied. And then there was ‑‑ so Shokin wasn’t specifically on my radar as being an individual that was ‑‑ that was targeting him. But yes, there was constant pressure. And it was like ‑‑ it was like whack‑a‑mole in regards to the pressures that had to resolve.”
Still, Archer stressed that the request was not, specifically, for Hunter to involve his father in the matter.
“The request ‑‑ you know, basically the request is like, can D.C. help? But there were not ‑‑ you know, I’m not going to ‑‑ there were not ‑‑ it wasn’t like ‑‑ there weren’t specific, you know, can the big guy help? It was ‑‑ it’s always this amorphous, can we get help in D.C.?”
Later pressed again, Archer side stepped, saying Hunter “was a lobbyist and an expert,” but acknowledged that “obviously he carried, you know, a very powerful name. So I think it was – that’s what they were asking for.”
After testifying before Congress, Archer appeared with Tucker Carlson on “Tucker on Twitter” for an 11 minute interview in which he revealed a signed letter from Joe Biden, acknowledging Archer’s business with Hunter and thanking him before apologizing for not being able to spend time with the men.
Original Article: https://valiantnews.com/2023/08/devon-archer-believes-burisma-needed-biden-brand-to-avoid-legal-trouble-transcript/
