Then-Vice President Joe Biden communicated more than 20 times, either in person or on speakerphone, with Hunter Biden’s business associates, Devon Archer told a House committee on Monday.
Archer was the business partner of the son of the current president and testified to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee behind closed doors.
Archer said the then-vice president brought the most value to “the brand,” particularly in a deal with Ukranian energy firm Burisma, where Hunter Biden was a board member, according to the committee, which released a series of tweets after the testimony.
Archer’s testimony was a clear contradiction of the president’s repeated claims that he never communicated with his son about international business deals.
“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,” House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a public statement. “Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.”
In December 2015, slightly more than a year before Joe Biden left office as vice president, Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky and Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi pressured Hunter Biden to get help from the U.S. government regarding Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma, Archer reportedly said.
“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,” Comer added. “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.”
According to the committee, Archer testified, “Burisma would have gone out of business if ‘the brand’ had not been attached to it.”
The Biden family’s involvement caused people to be intimidated about messing with Burisma legally, according to the House committee.
Ian Sams, senior adviser to the White House counsel’s office, tweeted that Archer did not directly tie Joe Biden’s actions to Hunter Biden’s business ventures.
Beyond Burisma, then-Vice President Joe Biden had coffee in Beijing with Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR, another one of Hunter Biden’s business ventures in China. Joe Biden also wrote a letter of recommendation for college for Li’s daughter.
As vice president, Biden also dialed into a dinner in Paris with his son and executives of a French energy company.
In 2014, the then-vice president attended a business dinner with Hunter Biden and his associates at Café Milano in Washington, D.C. Elena Baturina, a Russian businesswoman who is the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, was an attendee.
The Oversight Committee tweeted, “Notably, the Biden administration’s public sanctions do not contain Baturina.”
Last week, the White House declined to answer questions about Archer ahead of his testimony to the House panel.
“Why did Joe Biden lie to the American people about his family’s business dealings and his involvement? It begs the question, what else he is hiding from the American people?” Comer said. “The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will continue to follow the Bidens’ money trail and interview witnesses to determine whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens, President Biden is compromised and corrupt, and our national security is threatened.”
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