Biden investigation: Full Devon Archer testimony released
Reese Gorman
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The House Oversight and Reform Committee released the full transcript from Monday’s Devon Archer interview, in which he testified Hunter Biden had President Joe Biden on speakerphone 20 times around business associates and that Burisma officials did not want a Ukrainian prosecutor fired because they had him “under control.”
Archer worked alongside Hunter Biden for the Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm before both of them became board members of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company, in 2014.
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Here is the full transcript of Archer’s testimony:
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Burisma officials did not want to see then-Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was allegedly investigating Burisma, removed from office because they had him “under control,” according to Archer’s testimony.
“Whoever the next person that was brought in was — you know, the fact that he was — this is the total, this is the narrative spun to me, that Shokin being fired was a — was not good, because he was like under control as relates to Mykola [Zlochevsky],” Archer testified.
This is contrary to allegations made in an FBI-generated FD-1023 tip sheet in which a paid FBI informant alleged Zlochevsky, the head of Burisma, told him he paid both Hunter Biden and his father $5 million to pressure the Ukrainian government to fire Shokin. Archer said in his testimony that he is unaware of any $5 million payment to any Biden.
Archer also testified that Hunter Biden had his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone around business associates a number of times over the course of his and Archer’s 10-year business relationship and that Burisma would have gone out of business if it weren’t for the “Biden brand” being attached to the company.
“My only thought is that I think Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn’t have the brand attached to it. That’s my, like, only honest opinion,” Archer said in his testimony. “The capabilities to navigate D.C. that they were able to, you know, basically be in the news cycle. And I think that preserved them from a, you know, from a longevity standpoint.”
He continued saying that having the “Biden brand” attached to the company made people “intimidated to mess with them” from a legal standpoint. He also testified that the “Biden brand” referred mostly to Joe Biden because he “brought the most value to the brand.”
“Well, I think there was — there are particular, you know, objectives that Burisma was trying to accomplish. And a lot of it’s about opening doors, you know, globally in D.C. And I think that, you know, that was the, you know — and then obviously having those doors opened, you know, sent the right signals, you know, for Burisma to, you know, carry on its business and be successful,” Archer testified.
Archer also specified that Hunter Biden would not “overtly” throw out things his father could do for Burisma. Rather, he would use “the brand” as a way to get leverage with the company.
In one particular instance, Archer testified that in 2014, he, Hunter Biden, and two Burisma executives, Zlochevsky and Vadym Pozharskyi, were at the Four Seasons hotel in Dubai having drinks following a Burisma board meeting. Zlochevsky, according to Archer, told Hunter Biden that Burisma needed “help from the United States government” to deal with the pressure the company was under from Shokin, the prosecutor in Ukraine who was allegedly investigating Burisma, visa troubles, and issues with assets being frozen. Archer then stepped away, and Hunter Biden was told to call “D.C.”
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While Archer said he was not “privy” to the call, Pozharskyi told him that Hunter Biden called his father, who at the time was vice president, but he could not verify that, according to the testimony.
Days later, Joe Biden was in Ukraine, threatening to withhold American aid to the country unless Shokin was fired.