Major Update from NBC NEWS is now added as additional source to this story as follows about the Devon Archer testimony and GOP stance and reactions vs. the truth (my emphasis on key parts added):
“Biden spoke with son's
business associates numerous times, former partner tells lawmakers”
Devon Archer, the former business partner of Hunter
Biden testified that the president's son used “the Biden brand” to his
advantage while working for Ukrainian energy company Burisma, according to
lawmakers who were present during the closed-door questioning.
Archer answered questions for about four hours during a
transcribed interview before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, at
one point telling members that Biden put his father on speakerphone during
business
Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) told reporters after the closed-door meeting:
“The witness indicated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and
approximately 20 times over the course of 10-year relationship, Hunter may
have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and
they never once spoke about any business dealings. As he described it,
it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, what’s going on. There
wasn’t a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had.”
Goldman went on to say: “Archer stated unequivocally that there is
no evidence in his possession or his knowledge that Joe Biden ever discussed
business with Hunter Biden, Joe Biden ever did anything on behalf of
Hunter Biden’s business interests or otherwise, never changed official policy
in any way, shape or form. Archer said that Hunter Biden felt he had to
give his employers “the illusion of access to his father.”
The committee Chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), said Archer
testified that Joe Biden was put on the phone “to sell the brand.”
Comer further said:
“The testimony shows 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.”
My insert: Saying that the Biden name as a “brand” is NOT a crime any more than saying the Trump name IS or IS NOT – not even close.
Rep. Comer
is way, way off his rocker to think it does … the testimony is clear – Archer said clearly: Joe Biden was NOT involved in any way in the business part of the
conservations.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said Archer told the panel he didn't know anything about an alleged $5 million bribe to the family that a Burisma executive had mentioned to an FBI informant.
Biggs said he still believes the president is compromised
and told reporters: “I think we should do an impeachment inquiry.
Rep. Goldman called Biggs' assertion that Biden is compromised “completely
absurd” adding: “The witness repeated
over and over and over again that President
Biden never discussed any business dealings of Hunter’s with Hunter or anyone
else. He repeated over and over again that he never did anything in
consideration, official policy or otherwise, in consideration of whatever
Hunter’s business interests were. So I have a lot of respect for
Congressman Biggs, but that’s just a flat out lie.”
Attorneys for Hunter Biden have not commented on Archer's
testimony.
Ian Sams, a
spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, said in a statement: “House Republicans’ own much-hyped witness
today testified that he never heard of President Biden discussing business with
his son or his son’s associates, or doing anything wrong. House Republicans
keep promising bombshell evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against
the President, but time after time, they keep failing to produce any. In fact,
even their own witnesses appear to be debunking their allegations.”
FYI: Archer was
convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy involving a different company in
June of 2018. A New York federal court judge sentenced him to a year and a day
in prison last year, but stayed the sentence pending an appeal. The federal
appeals court denied his bid last week.
Federal prosecutors who
brought the case recently asked the judge overseeing the case to set a
sentencing date, prompting some conservatives to claim that the Justice Department was
trying to intimidate Archer ahead of Monday's congressional testimony.
The same prosecutors, in a court filing said: “To be clear, the Government does not request (and has never requested)
that the defendant surrender before his Congressional testimony.”
My 2 Cents and hopefully the last on this topic: The Comer and Jordan committees
and opinions from Reps like Biggs are simply a farce, a joke – a massive waste
of time for political gain to please Trump and nothing else.
I hope everyone can see
that – but as usual and of course MAGA types will never see the truth for what
is unless they believe it spews from Trump and some have said on live TV “no one
is more honest than Trump.”
Thanks for stopping by and
sticking with this story.
Original post follows.
Another GOP faux Biden crime family debacle backfires like all their previous ones with their “special witnesses” with this or that info that would prove this or that to nail the entire Biden family turns out to be another dud just like all the others before.
This is their latest
dud reported on from CNN with this headline:
“Former
business partner says Hunter Biden sold ‘illusion’ of access to Joe Biden,
source says”
CNN (July 31, 2023)— Devon Archer told
the House Oversight Committee on Monday (July 31) that his former business
partner, Hunter Biden, was selling the “illusion” of access to his father,
according to a source familiar with the closed-door interview, the latest
development in the Republican-led congressional investigations into the
president’s son and President himself, too.
Impact the GOP did not expect: The source reiterated that Archer provided
no evidence connecting President Joe Biden to any of his son’s foreign
business dealings.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and a member of the committee sat
through the portion of Archer’s interview where he was questioned by
Republicans, and he also said there was a lack of evidence connecting the president
to his son’s foreign dealings.
Goldman said Archer told
the panel that Hunter Biden did put his father on speaker phone in the
presence of business partners, but that business was never discussed.
Archer’s testimony came as House Republicans appear to be
shifting their focus away from trying to impeach members of the President’s cabinet
and instead prioritizing efforts to impeach the president himself by linking
him to his son’s controversial business dealings expected to take center stage.
Goldman told reporters during a break in the hearing that
Archer later said that Hunter Biden putting his father on speaker phone with
business associates was “part of the daily conversations” between father and
son.
Goldman added: “The witness was very consistent that none of
those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions.
That kind of a preposterous premise to think that a father should not say hello
to the people that a son is at dinner with and that is literally all the
evidence is.”
Goldman also contended that President Biden’s phone
conversations were not conflicts of interest because it “was not done in
furtherance of Hunter Biden’s business interests.
Goldman then argued: “We need to move on and this
investigation is a complete waste of time if House Republicans cannot produce
documentary evidence linking the president to his son’s business dealings.”
GOP Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chairman of the House Oversight
Committee, said that Archer’s testimony reaffirms questions about Joe Biden’s
knowledge of his son’s foreign business dealings and show the president was not
being truthful in his previous denials, saying in his statement: “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.”
Note: Comer said that in a
statement, referring to testimony that Democrats have also acknowledged Archer
gave no proof and still accused President Biden of lying about his
family’s business dealings and his own involvement – while pledging that his
panel will continue to investigate.
Ian Sams White House
spokesman highlighted how Archer testified saying in a statement: “That he
never heard of President Biden discussing business with his son or his son’s
associates, or doing anything wrong. House Republicans keep promising bombshell
evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against the President, but time
after time, they keep failing to produce any.”
Matthew L. Schwartz, managing partner of Boies Schiller
Flexner LLP and counsel to Archer, acknowledged in a statement: “Both sides are
claiming victory following Mr. Archer’s voluntary interview today. But all
Devon Archer did was exactly what we said he would: show up and answer the
questions put to him honestly and completely. Mr. Archer shared the truth with
the Committee, and we will leave to them and others to decide what to do with
it.”
The full complete story at the link above and here.
Here from ABC NEWS is their key points
of the same Archer story:
Archer subsequently told lawmakers that Hunter Biden would
frequently take his father's phone calls in the company of business associates
and put him on speakerphone, according to lawmakers and sources familiar with
the testimony -- a development that sparked partisan jockeying over its
significance.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Republican chairman of the Oversight Committee, called it evidence: “That Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son's business dealings and was not involved.”
He also said Archer told the committee that Hunter Biden's value to
Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas firm, was “the brand associated with the
Biden family.”
An unnamed Democratic source
disputed that, claiming that “the brand referred to Washington, DC not the
Biden family, specifically.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) framed those interactions as benign
pleasantries, saying: “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.”
Archer told the committee: “Hunter Biden was selling the illusion
of access to his father, but he never directly involved his father in any of
their business dealings.”
An attorney for Archer did not comment on the specifics of
what his client told the committee, only telling ABC News: “Mr. Archer answered
questions honestly and completely. We leave that to the committee and others to
decide what to do with it.”
My 2 Cents: As I have said before and I stand by my statements that
this GOP gang of thugs (Comer and Jordan leading the pack) are looking for
Zebras in the forest as evidence of crimes to burn down the entire Biden family,
but thus far they have come up empty handed and empty headed; a lot like their
noggins (e.g., wild rabid nutty Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and dumb sh*t airhead goofball
Rep. James Comer (R-KY).
They still do not understand
that Zebras don’t live in the forest and President Joe Biden is not and was not
connected to his son Hunter Biden and any nefarious foreign business deals –
none whatsoever.
This GOP is seeking revenge
for Trump and nothing else matters to them. Nothing at all except to please
Trump.
Thanks for stopping by.
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