by Sharon Rondeau
(Aug. 2, 2023) — On Wednesday, investigative journalist Tucker Carlson published the first part of an interview he conducted with Devon Archer, a former associate of Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
On Monday Archer sat for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee, which has been investigating whether the younger Biden’s foreign business dealings over a number of years involved his father before, during and/or after he served as Barack Obama’s vice president from January 2009 to January 2017.
According to committee chairman James Comer (R-KY), Archer, who was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for allegedly participating in a scheme to misuse funds invested by an Indian tribe as he worked alongside Hunter Biden, told the committee that Hunter was promoting “the brand” associated with the Biden name during his dealings with representatives from China, Ukraine and other nations.
According to a statement Comer issued on behalf of the committee following Archer’s closed-door questioning:
“Devon Archer’s testimony today 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. Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family. When Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States, he joined Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times. When Burisma’s owner was facing pressure from the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company for corruption, Archer testified that Burisma executives asked Hunter to ‘call D.C.’ after a Burisma board meeting in Dubai.”
“Burisma” is a Ukrainian energy company which in 2014 seated Archer and Hunter on its board of directors while Joe Biden served as U.S. vice president and Obama’s “point man” on Ukraine. According to some reports, Hunter Biden was receiving $83,000 monthly for his service despite a lack of experience in anything energy-related; that information was taken from the now-infamous Hunter Biden laptop which contained details of the business dealings and suggestions that contrary to his claims to voters, Joe Biden played a role.
According to Oversight Committee Democrat Dan Goldman, Archer told the committee Hunter Biden was trying to leverage the “illusion of access” to his father in his relationships with foreign countries.
The New York Post, which broke the laptop story in October 2020 and quickly experienced governmental and social-media censorship, reported Burisma “cut his (Hunter’s) monthly compensation in half two months after his father ceased to be vice president.”
At a 2018 Council on Foreign Relations conference Joe Biden joked that his 2016 threat to then-Ukrainian president Petro Poroschenko to withhold “a billion dollars” in loan guarantees if he did not “fire the prosecutor” investigating Burisma for corruption swiftly achieved its desired goal. During those remarks, Biden claimed Ukraine prosecutor general Viktor Shokin was not “solid” but was replaced by someone who was.
“He was an expert in knowing the guy,” Archer told Carlson of Hunter’s business dealings, which he said encompassed “private equity.” “He knew a lot of people…”
Carlson observed that based on his time living in Washington, DC, “it’s not a ‘money’ town…People aren’t in business in Washington for the most part, and most people don’t have business skills that I noticed in 30 years of living there.”
Archer agreed with Carlson’s characterization of “business” in the nation’s capital as requiring “selling access” to government-connected individuals. “We thought it was a great opportunity when we went into business,” Archer said, although claiming in the end that “the connections were too close and the scrutiny too much, and it ended up destroying…a lot of destruction of businesses over a number of years.”
Although Hunter has a law degree, Archer said, he was not performing “legal” work in Washington.
During his “a ten-year partnership” with Hunter, Archer said, during which he said Joe Biden “called in” and “knew” the people assembled were “business associates.” “I don’t know if it was an orchestrated call-in or not; it certainly was powerful, though,” he said. “Sometimes the call would come, and the speaker would go on,” he added after Carlson probed the issue further. “In the rear view, it’s an abuse of soft power, I’d say,” Archer concluded (7:33 in video).
At approximately the 9:00 mark, Carlson held up a January 20, 2011 letter from then-Vice President Joe Biden to Archer in which Biden wrote, “I apologize for not getting a chance to talk to you at the luncheon yesterday. I was having trouble getting away from hosting president Hu Jintao,” who Carlson clarified “was running China at that time.”
Biden additionally thanked Archer “for coming.”
Below that, in a handwritten note, Biden wrote, “Happy you guys are together.”
Pointing out that Archer was not a government official and in his thirties at the time, Carlson asked Archer why “the vice president of the United States” would “much rather talk to you and thank you,” instead of Jintao, the leader of a powerful country.
“It goes back to my earlier point…yeah, I think at the time I hit the jackpot in finding the regulatory environment or company that can navigate right to the top, but, obviously as time has told, being a little bit too close to the son ends up burning you,” Archer responded.
“…This is the vice president of the United States. He’s not allowed to be working on businesses with foreign governments while he’s vice president, I don’t think…?”
“Not that I know of,” Archer replied.
With a boisterous laugh, Carlson declared, “But here he is! Amazing. We’ll be back!”
The interview is posted on Carlson’s website and his “X” (formerly Twitter) timeline.
The transcript of Archer’s session with the committee is expected to be released soon, Fox News reported at 5:00 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
Updated 6:19 p.m.