Archer testified ‘Biden brand’ kept Burisma from going under sooner, lawmaker says
Reese Gorman
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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said Devon Archer testified that Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company where he and Hunter Biden were board members, would have gone under sooner if it wasn’t for the “Biden brand” being involved.
During his testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee‘s staff, Archer testified that the Biden family, specifically then-Vice President Joe Biden, was key to Burisma staying afloat.
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“One of the most interesting statements that was made was, I’ll give you a rough paraphrase of it, but that Burisma would have gone under without the participation of the Biden brand,” Biggs said. “Upon questioning the Biden brand, it is not Jill or Jim or anybody. It is Joe Biden. Now what he meant by that, the term he used, is that people would probably not be as inclined to legally lean on Burisma because of the Biden brand.”
This characterization of Archer’s comments was disputed by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who was also in the room during the testimony.
Goldman said that after the Republicans left, Archer “clarified that what Hunter Biden brought was a D.C. brand” based on his own experience in lobbying as a lawyer and based on his own contacts in Washington.
“That, in conjunction with the fact that his last name was Biden, was Hunter’s brand,” Goldman said. “But let’s be very, very clear — in no way, shape, or form did Hunter Biden advertise that his father was doing anything on his behalf. So that is a bit of a mischaracterization.”
Biggs also confirmed that Hunter Biden called his father around other people about 20 times over 10 years.
Archer also talked about the “Big Guy,” referring to Joe Biden, and how Hunter Biden would always say to business partners, “We need to talk to my guy, we need to see when my guy is going to be here,” in reference to his father.
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A source familiar with the transcribed interview said Archer told the committee that “Hunter Biden was selling the illusion of access to his father.”
Archer also testified he did not know anything about the allegations made in an FBI-generated FD-1023 tip sheet that alleged $5 million payments were made by the head of Burisma to both Hunter Biden and Joe Biden in return for them pressuring the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor, according to Goldman, Biggs, and a source familiar with the testimony.