Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer gives closed-door interview
Former Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer is sitting for a closed-door transcribed interview with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday, in an appearance that is expected to fuel Republican attempts to link President Biden to his son’s business dealings.
The interview also follows a letter from the Department of Justice over the weekend, regarding Archer’s sentencing for an unrelated matter, that is adding to GOP claims of government obstruction of their investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings — even as Archer’s attorney beat down the speculation.
The Justice Department in its letter requested that a judge set a date for Archer to start his one-year prison sentence for his conviction for defrauding a Native American tribe, despite Archer’s counsel saying it was “premature” to do so because of an anticipated appeal and an “error” in sentencing.
That set off alarm bells in the GOP.
"I don't know if this a coincidence, or if this is another example of the weaponization of the Department of Justice,” House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said on Fox News on Sunday.
Other Republicans went further, accusing the DOJ of explicit interference in the GOP-led investigation. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said that lawmakers should return from an August recess for emergency hearings if Archer did not show up.
But Archer’s attorney stressed that the letter would not impact his planned interview, which had been rescheduled multiple times since Comer subpoenaed him in June.
“We are aware of speculation that the Department of Justice’s weekend request to have Mr. Archer report to prison is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him in advance of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee on Monday,” Acher’s lawyer Matthew Schwartz said in a statement on Sunday, first provided to Politico. “To be clear, Mr. Archer does not agree with that speculation. In any case, Mr. Archer will do what he has planned to do all along, which is to show up on Monday and to honestly answer the questions that are put to him by the Congressional investigators.”
The DOJ in a subsequent letter that it was not requesting that Archer surrender before his expected congressional testimony.
His appearance went on as scheduled. A smiling Archer did not answer shouted questions as he arrived at the interview with his lawyer on Monday morning.
The interview will consist of four hours of questioning divided evenly between Republicans and Democrats, and is expected to end mid-afternoon. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) were in attendance.
“I believe he can tell us things we haven’t heard before,” Biggs said.
Goldman cast doubt on the GOP attempts to link the president to his son’s business dealings.
“We're all waiting for any pin, whether it be a linchpin or other pin, to figure out how this is connected at all to President Biden,” Goldman said.