Hunter Biden investigation: Devon Archer cooperating with Comer on Burisma testimony
Jerry Dunleavy
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Hunter Biden business partner and fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer will not meet the initial subpoena deadline of Friday to appear before Congress, but Republicans believe he’ll soon sit down for questioning.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the House Oversight Committee chairman, had issued a subpoena on Monday for Archer to appear for a transcribed interview on Friday as part of the panel’s ongoing investigation into Biden family finances. Comer’s subpoena letter said the committee “has identified Mr. Archer as possessing information relevant to its investigation.”
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An aide for the Oversight Committee told the Washington Examiner on Thursday the deposition would not be happening Friday, but that the committee was in contact with Archer’s attorney about having the business associate of President Joe Biden’s son appear another day. The aide said the committee is confident that another date will be found, and that Archer not showing up on Friday is not being considered a violation of Comer’s subpoena because Republicans have told Archer’s lawyer that another date can still be worked out.
Archer, who worked with Hunter Biden for the Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm before both men joined the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma in 2014, was convicted in 2018 in connection with a fraudulent bond scheme aimed at swindling a Native American tribe, and he was sentenced to just over a year in prison in February 2022.
Archer, who was also ordered by a Manhattan federal judge to forfeit more than $15.7 million and to join his co-defendants in paying $43.4 million in restitution to the victims of the fraud, appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and a trio of circuit judges heard his arguments in May.
Archer lost his appeal earlier in June, with his lawyer saying he was disappointed in the decision and insisting that his client was “innocent.” The Supreme Court rejected another appeal from Archer in November 2021.
Comer’s Monday letter to Archer’s lawyer, Matthew Schwartz, said the committee possesses information that “indicates that Mr. Archer played a significant role in the Biden family’s business deals abroad, including but not limited to China, Russia, and Ukraine.” Comer also noted that “your client met with then-Vice President Biden on multiple occasions, including in the White House” while conducting these overseas business deals.
“Mr. Archer’s testimony is critical to the Committee’s investigation. Mr. Archer was Hunter Biden’s business partner in a number of transactions involving foreign nationals and foreign companies,” Comer told Archer’s lawyer. “Mr. Archer is associated with corporate entities that the Committee has identified and the Biden family’s role in each of them. Furthermore, he has significant information regarding the purpose of these companies and knowledge of relevant documents related to the Committee’s investigation.”
The call for testimony comes as the Oversight Committee is zeroing in on allegations made through a confidential FBI informant that Mykola Zlochevsky, the Ukrainian owner of Burisma, funneled $5 million to Joe Biden when he was vice president and $5 million to Hunter Biden in an alleged bribery scheme to pressure Ukraine to oust a prosecutor investigating Burisma.
Amid the threat of being held in contempt of Congress, FBI Director Christopher Wray allowed members of Comer’s House Oversight Committee to review an FD-1023 form last week that contained the allegations from the informant in June 2020.
In addition, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed a less redacted version of the form he’s viewed says Zlochevsky claimed to have 17 recordings of his conversations with Biden and his son as an “insurance policy.”
Comer has long focused on Hunter Biden’s dealings with Archer.
Comer in February demanded records from Hunter Biden and the president’s brother and Hunter Biden’s uncle, James, related to the duo’s overseas dealings with Chinese intelligence-linked businessmen. The congressman also told Hunter Biden to hand over all of his communications with Archer.
The same month, Comer demanded answers from a former top Serbian politician, Vuk Jeremic, who went on to be the president of the United Nations General Assembly, about his financial interactions with Joe Biden’s son and his work with Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC. Comer told Jeremic to hand over a host of communications with anyone from CEFC, as well as any records tied to Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Hunter Biden business associates such as Archer.
The next month, after lengthy stonewalling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen agreed to allow Comer to view suspicious transaction reports related to Hunter Biden. Comer had asked that Yellen hand over “all SARs generated in connection with” Hunter Biden, James Biden, their businesses, and Archer.
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Republicans have long contended Hunter Biden’s lucrative business dealings in Ukraine and China indicate he may have committed crimes related to foreign lobbying or money laundering, although multiple recent reports have indicated U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump-appointed holdover and the Delaware prosecutor overseeing the case, may have narrowed his focus to Hunter Biden potentially committing tax fraud and lying on a federal gun form when purchasing a revolver.
Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) released a joint report in 2020, with much of its focus on then-Vice President Biden’s role in helping guide the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy while Hunter Biden held a lucrative position on the board of Burisma. Archer figured prominently in the report.