New Transcript: Star Hunter Biden Witness Refuted Every GOP Talking Point
Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Devon Archer, undermined all of Republicans’ claims in his testimony.
Republicans’ latest key witness in their investigation into the Biden family’s supposed corruption actually said the exact opposite of everything the GOP has alleged.
The House Oversight Committee on Thursday released a transcript of testimony from Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, who gave a nearly five-hour interview in a closed-door session earlier this week. The hearing was the latest phase of Republicans’ months-long investigation into the Bidens, which has yet to produce any actual evidence. The GOP has accused Joe and Hunter Biden of influence peddling and accepting bribes.
Oversight Chair James Comer, who has spearheaded the investigation, has called Archer a “hero” and insisted for the past week that the businessman would prove that Joe Biden was directly involved in corrupt business practices. Other Republicans, including Nancy Mace, also claimed Archer would unequivocally prove how corrupt Biden is. But the hearing transcript shows nothing could have been further from the truth.
Republicans have insisted that an FBI report that contains unverified information and relies on a Rudy Giuliani conspiracy theory proves the Bidens accepted bribes from Burisma executive Mykola Zlochevsky.
“If someone were to conclude from this that this [form] is evidence … that Joe Biden was bribed by Mykola Zlochevsky, would you disagree with that conclusion?” Archer’s attorney, Matthew Schwartz, asked at one point.
“Yeah, I would,” Archer answered.
Schwartz also asked if Archer knew of any wrongdoing by the president.
“No, I’m not aware of any,” Archer replied.
Instead, throughout his testimony, Archer repeatedly stated that Biden was never involved in his son’s business and Hunter never asked his father to step in. Although the two men spoke often, it was either small talk or to catch up.
Archer said that Hunter tried to make himself seem more impressive by giving the impression that he could sway his father, then vice president, in certain directions. But nothing ever actually happened. Archer compared it to the anonymous source in the FBI form, who accused the Bidens of accepting bribes but then said that it’s common for Ukrainian businessmen to “brag or show-off.”
“As such, CHS is not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity of Zlochevsky’s aforementioned statements,” the document concluded.
Archer explained that “people send signals and those signals are basically used as currency. And that’s kind of how a lot of D.C. operators and foreign tycoons and businessmen work.”
None of that stopped Comer from appearing on Fox News Monday night, though, and blatantly lying. “Every day this bribery scandal becomes more credible,” he said.
Comer claimed that Archer “said Hunter Biden was under immense pressure while serving on the Burisma board to get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired,” referring to Viktor Shokin, who was fired in 2016 for corruption.
He made similar claims on Fox News the following night. But everything he said was completely contradicted by Archer’s testimony.
Maybe Comer would have known that had he actually attended his own hearing.