Biden’s narrative on never discussing business deals with Hunter continues to crumble
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President Biden’s repeated insistence that he had no knowledge of his son Hunter Biden's business dealings continues to crumble under the weight of allegations that he was frequently involved, including reported forthcoming testimony from one of Hunter's longest friends and business partners that the then-vice president was on more than two dozen business calls with his son.
Devon Archer, a longtime friend and former business partner of Hunter Biden, is scheduled to sit for a transcribed interview before members of Congress next week. In addition to the expected testimony, Archer is likely to be asked about President Biden meeting with over a dozen of Hunter’s business associates while he was serving as vice president between 2009 and 2017.
Fox News Digital has confirmed that Archer has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee and is expected to sit down for a transcribed interview on July 31. The interview could cast further doubt on Biden’s repeated claims that he had no knowledge of his son’s foreign business dealings or of having any influence on them.
"First of all, I have never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period," Biden said in August 2019. "There wasn't any hint of scandal at all when we were there. It was the same kind of strict, strict rules. That's why I never talk with my son or my brother or anyone else, even distant family about their business interest, period."
President Biden, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer (Fox News)
BIDEN'S CLAIM TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER'S BUSINESS DEALINGS IS BECOMING HARDER TO MAINTAIN
"I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings," a frustrated Biden told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy a month later. "You should be looking at Trump. Trump’s doing this because he knows I’ll beat him like a drum. … Everybody’s looked at it and said there’s nothing there. Ask the right question."
"I don’t discuss business with my son," Biden said again the next month in October 2019.
The House Ways and Means Committee released testimony in June from two IRS whistleblowers who claimed Justice Department, FBI and IRS officials interfered with the investigation into Hunter Biden and that prosecutorial decisions were "influenced by politics."
One of the whistleblowers, IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley, said that Hunter Biden invoked his father to pressure a Chinese business partner while discussing deals. Shapley oversaw the IRS probe into the president's son and said the agency obtained a July 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter to Harvest Fund Management CEO Henry Zhao showing Hunter alleging he was with his father to pressure Zhao to satisfy a pledge.
"I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled," Hunter wrote in the WhatsApp message to Zhao, according to the documents. "Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight," Hunter wrote.
"And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction," Hunter said.
Vice President Joe Biden and Hunter Biden pose for a photo on April, 28 2016. (Marco Polo)
Top House Republicans have described the WhatsApp messages as a "shakedown" by the Biden family.
The whistleblower testimony came to light almost a year after reports surfaced on an alleged voicemail from President Biden to Hunter in which he purportedly discussed his son's international business dealings.
"Hey pal, it's Dad. It's 8:15 on Wednesday night. If you have a chance, give me a call. Nothing urgent—I just wanted to talk with you," Biden is heard saying in a voicemail from 2018. "I thought the article released online, it's going to be printed tomorrow in the Times, was good. I think you're clear."
BIDEN REPEATEDLY DENIED DISCUSSING BUSINESS DEALS WITH HUNTER, BUT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS OTHERWISE
After the testimony was released last month, Biden snapped at a New York Post reporter when asked if he was "sitting there with" his son or "involved" during the alleged WhatsApp discussion with Zhao.
"No. I wasn’t," Biden said before shouting, "No!"
However, photos from Hunter Biden’s laptop show he was at the then-former vice president’s home in Delaware the same day of his alleged "shakedown" messages, Fox News Digital reported Monday.
Photos on Hunter's abandoned laptop taken on July 30, 2017, the same day as the threatening message to Zhao, show Hunter posing in the driver’s seat of Biden’s 1967 Corvette Stingray with two young girls in bikinis in the driveway of his father’s Wilmington, Delaware, home.
The photos call into question whether both Bidens were in the same house during the time of the July 30, 2017, discussion.
Hunter Biden on July 30, 2017. (Marco Polo)
Hunter Biden poses for a photo in Delaware on July 30, 2017.(Marco Polo)
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Miranda Devine, a New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor, reported Sunday evening that Archer, who co-founded Hunter’s now-dissolved investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, is expected to tell the House Oversight Committee about meetings he witnessed attended by both Bidens — Hunter and Joe — either in person or via telephone.
Archer's lawyer released a statement on Monday afternoon saying, "There have been many leaks and much speculation about Mr. Archer’s potential statement to the Oversight Committee, but next week, Mr. Archer will get to speak for himself."
During the meetings, Hunter would specifically introduce his father to foreign business partners or prospective investors, Archer is expected to testify. He also is expected to tell the committee about other instances — as many as two dozen times in Archer’s presence — where Hunter called his father and put him on speaker to impress prospective investors, Devine reported.
The committee invited Archer to testify as he was sentenced last year to one year in prison for his role in a $60 million bond fraud involving various clients. At least three previously planned dispositions were canceled by Archer for personal reasons.
"Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he knew nothing about his son’s business dealings," Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. "Evidence continues to be revealed that Joe Biden was very much involved in his family’s corrupt influence peddling schemes and he likely benefited financially. This includes deals with a corrupt Ukrainian oligarch and a CCP-linked energy company that generated millions for the Bidens and undermined American interests.
"It certainly appears that Joe Biden and his family put themselves first and Americans last, but corporate media and the Justice Department continue to cover up for the Bidens. The Oversight Committee will continue to follow the facts to provide the transparency and accountability that the American people demand and deserve. We look forward to speaking soon with Devon Archer about Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s business affairs."
From left, Devon Archer, Luke Archer and Dr. Krista Archer attend T-Mobile Sidekick Lounge at Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge at Two Trees Farm on Aug. 16, 2008, in Bridgehampton, New York. (Clint Spaulding/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
In April, Fox News Digital reported that at least four business partners, a vice president and two assistants at Rosemont Seneca Partners visited the White House more than 80 times when Biden was vice president.
For instance, Archer, who was sentenced to federal prison last February for his role in a scheme to defraud a Native American tribe, visited Biden at least twice in 2009 and 2014 during his vice presidency. The December 2009 visit was a holiday reception at Biden's vice presidential residence, and the April 2014 visit was with Biden in the West Wing.
Archer also played golf with Biden and Hunter at least once during the Obama administration in August 2014 in the Hamptons, four months after Hunter and Archer joined the board of Burisma Holdings. A few days after Biden returned from the infamous December 2015 Ukraine trip, Archer also attended Biden's holiday party at Biden's vice presidential residence along with Hunter, his longtime business partner Eric Schwerim, and Sebastian Momtazi, who also had a Burisma.com email address.
Devon Archer and Christa Archer attend Quest Magazine and What2WearWhere.com's soft launch of LAVO on Sept. 9, 2010, in New York City. (Amber de Vos/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Schwerin, the former president of Rosemont Seneca Partners, visited the White House when Biden was vice president at least 27 times and "managed almost every aspect" of the Biden family’s financial life, according to Hunter's ex-wife.
John Robinson "Rob" Walker, another one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners at Rosemont Seneca Partners, appeared on the White House visitor logs at least 16 times when Biden was vice president.
Walker’s name made headlines in March when House Oversight Committee Republicans released a memo saying they obtained records showing members of the Biden family received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Walker and their Chinese business ventures in 2017.
JOE BIDEN MET WITH AT LEAST 14 OF HUNTER BIDEN'S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES WHILE VICE PRESIDENT
Biden previously denied his son ever received money from China.
"My son has not made money in terms of this thing about, what are you talking about, China," Biden declared during the October 2020 debate against then-President Trump. "The only guy who made money from China is this guy. He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China."
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, joined by Hunter Biden and Ashley Biden, attend their granddaughter Maisy Biden's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field on May 15, 2023, in Philadelphia. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden also personally met with more than a dozen of Hunter Biden’s business associates from the U.S., Mexico, Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan over the course of his vice presidency, Fox News Digital previously reported.
On March 2, 2012, Biden met with Schwerin and the former president of Columbia, Andrés Pastrana Arango, with whom Hunter at the time was trying to secure business deals with in the South American country, at Biden’s Naval Observatory residence.
Two of Hunter’s Mexican business associates, Miguel Aleman Velasco and Miguel Aleman Magnani, visited the West Wing on Feb. 26, 2014, according to the visitor logs, and Joe Biden was later photographed with Hunter giving Velasco and Magnani a tour of the White House Brady Press Briefing room.
Biden also attended a dinner with Hunter’s business associates from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia at Café Milano in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 2015, records on Hunter’s abandoned laptop show.
OBAMA-ERA EMAILS REVEAL HUNTER'S EXTENSIVE TIES TO NEARLY A DOZEN SENIOR-LEVEL BIDEN ADMIN AIDES
Devine, the author of "Laptop from Hell," reported Archer is expected to testify on specific examples of Biden getting involved in his son’s business deals, including an evening meeting in Dubai on Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, which ultimately saw Hunter meeting with Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky and calling his dad during their conversation.
According to Devine, Archer, who was also a director, is expected to testify that the call between Joe, Hunter and Hunter’s business partners came after he and Hunter had dinner with the Burisma board at the Burj Al Arab Hotel. Archer and Hunter reportedly left the meeting and traveled to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach when Vadym Pozharskyi, a senior Burisma executive, called them and said Zlochevsky needed to urgently speak with Hunter.
President Biden walks to board Air Force One, April 11, 2023, with his son Hunter Biden, left, and sister Valerie Biden at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The two Ukrainians then reportedly joined Hunter and Archer at the Four Seasons, where Pozharskyi specifically asked Hunter, "Can you ring your dad?"
According to Devine, Archer is expected to testify that Hunter called his father, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time, and introduced the Ukrainians by their first names. Then the younger Biden emphasized that the Burisma executives "need our support."
Then-Vice President Biden acknowledged the Ukrainians, as he did in other calls with Hunter’s business partners, but kept the conversation brief, Archer is expected to testify.
Devine reported that committee members are likely to ask Archer about the context surrounding that meeting as three days after that conversation, on Dec. 9, 2015, then-Vice President Biden, who was former President Obama’s point man for Ukrainian issues, flew to Kyiv to address the Ukrainian parliament.
President Obama greets Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter at the game between the Duke Blue Devils and Georgetown Hoyas on Jan. 30, 2010, at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.(Alexis C. Glenn-Pool/Getty Images)
At the time, Zlochevsky was being investigated by Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin for corruption, and just two months later, Shokin seized four of Zlochevsky’s houses in Kyiv, two plots of land and a Rolls-Royce, Devine reported.
A month after the seizure, then-Vice President Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine unless Shokin was fired. Then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promptly fired Shokin.
Biden later bragged to the Council on Foreign Relations during an event in January 2018, saying, "I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.' Well, he got fired."
Hunter Biden and Mykola Zlochevski (Getty Images)
Fox News previously reported that one month before then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine, a Burisma Holdings executive revealed the "ultimate purpose" of Hunter Biden’s involvement with the Ukrainian energy company was to help the firm fight corruption charges levied against Zlochevsky.
In February 2016, roughly two months after Biden's trip and two months before Shokin’s firing, Hunter Biden thanked Zlochevsky in an email for "the beautiful birthday gifts," which he described as "far too extravagant." It is unclear what he received from the Ukrainian tycoon.
The White House has previously said the president never spoke to his son about his business dealings and had no knowledge of them. The president himself has also denied ever having spoken to his son about his business dealings or being involved in them.
However, a day after Biden’s forceful "No!" on June 28, a statement from White House spokesperson from the White House Counsel’s Office, Ian Sams, appeared to deviate from the president’s previous denials.
"As we have said many times before, the president was not in business with his son," Sams stated.
Republicans issued a letter following Sams’ statement saying there has been a "clear shift" in messaging from the White House, and they are demanding to know whether that shift indicates the president knew more than he let on.
"This statement deviates from previous White House statements and brings forward concerns that the president knew of his son’s foreign business deals," Comer, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith wrote in a letter to White House Counsel Stuart Delery.
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