{"id":94847,"date":"2023-07-31T22:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T03:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=94847"},"modified":"2023-07-31T22:00:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T03:00:37","slug":"94847","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=94847","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

‘My guy\u2019: Hunter Biden partner Devon Archer says Joe Biden was on calls with foreign patrons for \u2018the brand\u2019\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2014Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer told Congress Monday that Hunter referred to President Biden as \u201cmy guy\u201d while connecting his dad to foreign associates nearly two dozen times \u2014 as Republicans move closer to\u00a0starting an impeachment inquiry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Archer said during a\u00a0four-hour House Oversight Committee interview\u00a0that Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings paid Hunter up to $1 million per year to serve on its board because of his family\u2019s \u201cbrand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archer met with then-Vice President Joe Biden in April 2014, within days of\u00a0joining Burisma\u2019s board alongside Hunter, and told lawmakers that \u201cBurisma would have gone out of business if \u2018the brand\u2019 had not been attached to it,\u201d according to\u00a0a readout from panel Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cArcher talked about the\u00a0\u2018big guy\u2019<\/a>\u00a0and how Hunter Biden always said, \u2018We need to talk to my guy,\u2019 \u2018We need to see when my guy is going to be here,\u2019 and those types of things,\u201d Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told reporters as he left the deposition.<\/p>\n

According to Archer, Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky \u2014\u00a0\u00a0who allegedly told an FBI informant in 2016 he was\u00a0\u201ccoerced\u201d to pay $10 million in bribes<\/a>\u00a0to Hunter and Joe Biden \u2014 put intense pressure on Hunter in late 2015 to enlist US support for ousting Ukrainian prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin, who had investigated Burisma, the Republican readout said.<\/p>\n

At one point, Hunter Biden, Zlochevsky and Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi stepped away and \u201ccalled DC\u201d about the issue, Archer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis raises concerns that Hunter Biden was in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act,\u201d the GOP majority on the Oversight Committee\u00a0tweeted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Archer also said Hunter Biden, whose probation-only plea deal for tax fraud linked to his foreign income and an unrelated gun charge\u00a0collapsed last week<\/a>, put his father\u00a0on speakerphone more than 20 times\u00a0<\/a>during business meetings to promote \u201cthe brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe Biden was on speakerphone during a Paris dinner with reps from a French energy company, Archer said, and while his son was in China with Jonathan Li of BHR Partners, a state-backed investment fund co-founded by Hunter in 2013 \u2014 after he\u00a0introduced his father to Li<\/a>\u00a0during an official trip to Beijing.<\/p>\n

Archer further confirmed that then-Vice President Biden attended an\u00a0April 2015 dinner at Washington\u2019s Cafe Milano<\/a>\u00a0with Pozharskyi and former Moscow first lady\u00a0Yelena Baturina<\/a>, as previously reported by The Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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It was not immediately clear whether Archer shared significant details about the bribery accusation involving Burisma or addressed other\u00a0lingering points of intrigue, such as the extent of the business relationship between Hunter and Baturina, or the ties between the first son and another Russian billionaire, former arms contractor Vladimir Yevtushenkov.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Archer] said, \u2018I do not recall\u2019 more times than I [would like],\u201d Oversight Committee member Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told The Post Monday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish he could have given us more detailed answers on some of our questions. But what he did provide is massive,\u201d she added. \u201cHe provided, as a former business partner of Hunter Biden, that Joe Biden lied to the American people so many times. Joe Biden is on record over and over \u2014 on video and interviews \u2014 saying, \u2018I don\u2019t know anything about my son\u2019s business dealings. I\u2019ve never talked to Hunter about his business.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Archer appeared after the Justice Department and Archer\u2019s own lawyer, Matthew Schwartz, attempted to dismiss \u201cspeculation\u201d that federal prosecutors had tried to intimidate Archer ahead of his planned testimony with a Saturday request that a judge begin the process to imprison Archer on an unrelated fraud conviction.<\/p>\n

Schwartz is a partner at\u00a0Boies Schiller Flexner \u2014 a law firm with close ties to Democrats that formerly employed Hunter during his father\u2019s vice presidency.<\/p>\n

In that capacity, Hunter worked with Romanian businessman\u00a0Gabriel Popoviciu, who bank records show paid members of the Biden family\u00a0$1 million between 2015 and 2017<\/a> as he battled a corruption conviction \u2014 even as then-VP Joe Biden campaigned against corruption in Romania.<\/p>\n

Greene suggested the Boies Schiller link embodied by Schwartz was\u00a0\u201cprobably why [Archer] kept saying, \u2018I do not recall. I do not recall. I do not recall.\u2019 That was just \u2026 trying to cover up crimes for the Biden family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Archer didn\u2019t answer reporter questions as he and Schwartz left an office building near the Capitol \u2014 only replying that his watch was a Seiko in response to an off-topic query.<\/p>\n

One of the Oversight Committee\u2019s top Democrats, Daniel\u00a0Goldman of New York,\u00a0said\u00a0that Archer provided no information damaging to the president and even claimed that Burisma didn\u2019t want Shokin fired as Ukraine\u2019s top prosecutor \u2014 an apparent contradiction from what Archer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe witness 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\u2019s business interests or otherwise never changed official policy in any way shape or form,\u201d Goldman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in fact, the only evidence that we have is to the contrary, which is that even though it was perceived by Burisma, that they had the prosecutor general Shokin \u2018under control\u2019, that Joe Biden advocated for his firing, which, of course, was not coveted or desired by Burisma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldman also contended that Joe Biden\u2019s interactions with his son\u2019s partners were innocent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe described what the weather was,\u201d Goldman said of the president\u2019s role in foreign business relationships. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a preposterous premise to think that a father should not say hello to people that\u00a0the\u00a0son is at dinner with, and that\u2019s literally all the evidence is.\u201d<\/p>\n

But former FBI official Chris Swecker, who led the bureau\u2019s criminal investigations division from 2004 to 2006, said that things didn\u2019t look good for President Biden, noting the many alleged speakerphone calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs head of the criminal division, we\u00a0saw this quite a bit in bribery cases, it\u2019s called stream of services,\u201d Swecker told Fox News as Archer left Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sell access or something of value and you get something back in return, but it\u2019s not an express quid pro quo. It\u2019s just an understanding, but if you can match up the services within a reasonable period of time \u2014 with the thing of benefit, in this case, $10 million, or whatever it is \u2014 then you then you have bribery,\u201d Swecker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were selling access. All he had to do [was,] they do the big setup and then they put Joe Biden on the phone and just this shows that they have access. \u2018Here he is, he\u2019s on the phone. I just told you, you know, we can do things for you. And there he is.\u2019 So I mean, that matches up perfectly. Then you match it up with the prosecutor getting fired. The prosecutor is going after Burisma right within that same timeframe. Boy, you\u2019re really close to a slam dunk in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oversight Committee member Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who was not present at the deposition, told Fox that Biden\u2019s false claims to have never discussed business with his son hint at more substantial potential wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president himself, before he was the president and since he\u2019s been elected president, said he had no knowledge of and no dealings with his son\u2019s business, acquaintances or operation apparently, and obviously, that\u2019s completely false,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a lie and then it makes you wonder what else is being lied about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry added: \u201cPresident Biden is engulfed in a lot of smoke and where there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s fire and it appears he has lit himself ablaze and in an inferno of lies and testimony that points to corruption at the barest, very highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Biden himself has tried to laugh off the $10 million bribery allegation involving Burisma, telling The Post last month that the account was \u201cmalarkey\u201d and\u00a0asking,\u00a0\u201cWhere\u2019s the\u00a0money?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

But Oversight Committee Republicans are investigating whether the Biden family kept overseas bank accounts and communications on Hunter\u2019s laptop refer to Burisma\u00a0opening a\u00a0Maltese\u00a0bank account<\/a>\u00a0for him in 2016.<\/p>\n

The story behind\u00a0Baturina\u2019s $3.5\u00a0million<\/a>\u00a0transfer on Valentine\u2019s Day 2014 to a Hunter Biden-linked firm has also remained murky since it emerged in a 2020 report from GOP-led Senate committees. Biden allies have\u00a0pointed the finger\u00a0at Archer, claiming he used a once-shared corporate entity for his own dealings.<\/p>\n

Documents from Hunter\u2019s abandoned laptop show he was involved in work with Baturina, as well as Yevtushenkov \u2014\u00a0neither of whom have been sanctioned<\/a>\u00a0by the Biden administration, which has sought to financially squeeze Russia\u2019s elite to end the war in Ukraine \u2014 though it remains unclear how much money the first son may have earned through the ventures.<\/p>\n

Laptop records indicate that Hunter met with Yevtushenkov, who until recently controlled large Russian military contractors and Russia\u2019s largest cellphone provider MTS, in 2012 and 2013 \u2014 first in New York, then in DC \u2014 as he searched for property investments.<\/p>\n

An associate of Yevtushenkov told The Post this year, \u201cI asked [Yevtushenkov], \u2018Why are you doing this?\u2019 on the front end \u2014 before I understood that they were going to buy some real estate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made it very clear to me that, you know \u2026 \u2018I think it would be good to have a good relationship with this guy \u2026 maybe he can do a favor for us and we can do a favor for him,\u2019\u201d the source said. \u201cIt was a complete quid pro quo that he was going in for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him that\u2019s not the way it works in America, [but] he basically laughed at me and told me I was so na\u00efve,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

At the time, Yevtushenkov\u2019s cellphone firm faced a US investigation of nearly $1 billion in bribes paid to Uzbekistani officials between 2004 and 2012. MTS was listed on the New York Stock Exchange before trading in its shares was suspended last year and ultimately settled the case with the Trump Justice Department in 2019 with an\u00a0$850 million fine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The elder Biden has claimed for years that \u201cI have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, the White House adopted the line that the president \u201cwas never in business with his son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene said that she expects House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to launch an impeachment inquiry into Biden later this year \u2014 and that confirmation that Biden lied to the public could sway reluctant moderates, as was the case in impeachment inquiries into Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, who also told famous untruths amid scandals.<\/p>\n

Greene said that McCarthy made clear to House Republicans last week that they would be expected to vote in unison when a measure to create an impeachment inquiry comes to the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pitched it to our GOP conference in our private meeting that we have each week when we\u2019re in session, and he told the entire conference, he said, \u2018When I ask you for this, when I come to you, when we\u2019re bringing this to the floor, I expect you to be with me on this vote,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

McCarthy\u2019s office did not deny Greene\u2019s recollection. A second source who was in the room told The Post that McCarthy stressed, \u201cWe have a responsibility to investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of Archer\u2019s interview,\u00a0Manhattan federal prosecutors on Saturday asked federal judge Ronnie Abrams to set a date for Archer to start his year-and-a-day sentence for defrauding an American Indian tribe.<\/p>\n

Schwartz, Archer\u2019s lawyer, on Sunday denied any connection between the congressional testimony and the request to send his client to prison \u2014 as Republicans expressed concern about witness intimidation.<\/p>\n

Archer was convicted in 2018 of securities fraud for swindling the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe as part of a scheme that involved the sale of bonds. Hunter Biden was not charged in connection with that venture.<\/p>\n

Archer\u2019s conviction was overturned later that year \u2014 but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it in 2020 and\u00a0rejected his appeal earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of speculation that the Department of Justice\u2019s 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,\u201d Schwartz said\u00a0in a\u00a0statement Sunday.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, Mr. Archer does not agree with that speculation,\u201d he added. \u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Department also denied that its letter, which caused an uproar among House Republicans, was seeking Archer\u2019s surrender \u201cbefore his Congressional testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
In the letter to Abrams, Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams wrote: \u201cAs the Court knows, to surrender and commence his sentence of imprisonment, the defendant first must be designated to a federal facility by the Bureau of Prisons \u2014 a process that can take several weeks or months after the Court sets a surrender date.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cNonetheless, for the avoidance of all doubt, the Government requests that any surrender date, should the Court order one, be scheduled to occur after the defendant\u2019s Congressional testimony is completed,\u201d Williams added.<\/p>\n

Schwartz previously said it was \u201cpremature\u201d to have the judge set a date for his client\u2019s incarceration before he considers his appeal options.<\/p>\n

He is expected to file a formal response to the prosecutors\u2019 letter by Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘My guy\u2019: Hunter Biden partner Devon Archer says Joe Biden was on calls with foreign patrons for \u2018the brand\u2019\u2019 WASHINGTON \u2014Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer told Congress Monday that Hunter referred to President Biden as \u201cmy guy\u201d while connecting his dad to foreign associates nearly two dozen times \u2014 as Republicans move closer … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption","category-goobermint"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94848,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94847\/revisions\/94848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}