By Zachery Stieber
A key associate of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden arrived on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 31 to testify to Congress.
Devon Archer plans to answer questions from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Oversight Committee about the Biden family, one of his lawyers told The Epoch Times.
Mr. Archer and his representatives walked past reporters into the room at the O’Neill House Office Building, where he was set to speak to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the committee, and other members. Mr. Archer smiled but did not answer questions.
“We look forward to speaking with Devon Archer on Monday about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s business affairs,” Mr. Comer said in a statement.
Mr. Archer was appearing after the U.S. Department of Justice asked a judge to set a date for his surrender to serve a prison sentence for his fraud conviction.
Friends
Mr. Hunter Biden and Mr. Archer both served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company, and were also close friends.
“Love you brother,” Mr. Archer wrote in one text message to the younger Biden in 2018.
In 2014, Mr. Hunter Biden told Mr. Archer that he “just wanted to let you know … how much I love you,” and called Mr. Archer “a great friend” who had been there “through thick and thin.”
The messages came from a laptop computer Mr. Hunter Biden dropped off at a Delaware store. The computer was verified by the FBI as belonging to Mr. Hunter Biden.
Mr. Archer was sentenced to one year in prison in 2022 for defrauding a Native American tribe in a scheme that involved Mr. Archer and his company using Mr. Hunter Biden’s name to convince the tribe to invest assets.
While emails show Mr. Hunter Biden was involved with Mr. Archer’s firm, Mr. Hunter Biden was not charged and his lawyer has said the younger Biden was unaware of the scheme.
Mr. Archer has not yet had to serve his sentence.
Prosecutorial Request
Federal prosecutors on July 29 asked a federal judge overseeing the case to set a surrender date, or start of the sentence, after an appeal from Mr. Archer was rejected.
Republicans accused the Biden administration of trying to interfere in their investigation into the president’s family.
“It’s odd that it’s right before he’s scheduled to come in to have an opportunity to come in and speak before the House Oversight Committee and tell the people the truth about what went on with Burisma,” Mr. Comer said on Fox News over the weekend.
“I don’t know if this is a coincidence, or if it’s another example of the weaponization of the Department of Justice.”
Matthew Schwartz, a lawyer representing Mr. Archer, told The Epoch Times via email that Mr. Archer would still be appearing to testify on Monday and “honestly answer the questions that are put to him by the Congressional investigators.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, an appointee of Mr. Joe Biden, also wrote a followup letter to the court clarifying that prosecutors did not want Mr. Archer jailed before the testimony was given.
“To be clear, the Government does not request (and has never requested) that the defendant surrender before his Congressional testimony,” Mr. Williams said. “For the avoidance of all doubt, the Government requests that any surrender date, should the Court order one, be scheduled to occur after the defendant’s Congressional testimony is completed.”
Joseph Lord and Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
