Testimony from Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer directly contradicts right-wing hype
By: Media Matters for America
On August 3, Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer's testimony from earlier in the week was made public. Even though Republicans and right-wing media had relentlessly hyped the testimony — insisting it would be the nail in the coffin that revealed President Joe Biden's corrupt involvement in his son's business practices — the testimony did no such thing.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Conservative media insisted that testimony from Archer would finally prove wrongdoing by Joe Biden. Instead, he repeatedly testified that Biden was not involved in his son's business dealings.
Written byCourtney Hagle
Research contributions fromShelby Jamerson & Alex Paterson
Published 08/03/23 4:22 PM EDT
On August 3, Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer's testimony from earlier in the week was made public. Even though Republicans and right-wing media had relentlessly hyped the testimony — insisting it would be the nail in the coffin that revealed President Joe Biden's corrupt involvement in his son's business practices — the testimony did no such thing.
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Devon Archer's testimony failed to connect Joe Biden's access to Hunter's business dealings
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- While Archer did testify that Hunter Biden sought to sell an "illusion of access" to his father, his testimony repeatedly showed that the access was not actually there. When repeatedly questioned on whether Hunter influenced Joe Biden on U.S. or foreign policy, Archer testified that Hunter was merely selling an "illusion of access" and there was no actual influence from Joe. Asked if Hunter ever "discussed policy," "discussed business," "influenced American politics for the purpose of his business," "or asked the Vice President to do anything improper," Archer answered that he did not.
- Joe Biden was in frequent contact with his son, but Archer testified that the nature of these calls were largely mundane and irrelevant to their business. The communications between Joe and Hunter Biden, according to Archer, can be better characterized as a father "checking in" on his son regularly. Archer described the calls as "casual conversations" about "weather" or "fishing" but not about "cap tables or financials or anything like that."
- While Joe Biden did attend several dinners with Hunter Biden and his associates, Archer testified that the nature of these dinners remained casual and not related to business. Archer described one of these dinners as "just a regular dinner" that did not include discussions of business. In another portion of his testimony, Archer confirmed, in response to a query, that the dinner "was not about Hunter Biden's businesses with his various associates" and was, as Archer said, "dinner conversation."
- The testimony also undermined right-wing media claims that Hunter Biden used Joe Biden's influence to raise Chinese capital. Archer confirmed that "we didn't raise capital from the Chinese" and, in response to a question about whether they needed to solicit "Chinese investments," he said they "didn't have a fundraising capacity." Archer also denied that Hunter ever spoke to him about "how important that relationship to China was to his family."
- Archer denied that then-Vice President Joe Biden's support for the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was done to halt a corruption investigation into Burisma and his son. Right-wing media have spent years insisting that Joe fired Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin because of his corruption investigation into Burisma — a critical point in Donald Trump's first 2019 impeachment. Archer testified that he was not aware of any Shokin investigation into Burisma and that the "firing of Shokin was bad for Burisma because he was under control." Archer was further pressed on whether he "has any basis to believe that Vice President Biden's call for Shokin's removal was driven by anything other than the U.S. Government's anticorruption policy in Ukraine," to which Archer testified that he had no reason to believe otherwise.
- Archer denied any knowledge that the founder of Burisma bribed Hunter and Joe Biden to protect the company from Shokin's investigation. As The Washington Post's analysis shows, Archer "was never aware of any such bribe offered to Hunter Biden or anyone else." In the testimony, Archer indicated that he was not aware of "evidence that Joe Biden was bribed by Mykola Zlochevsky," Burisma's founder. Instead, Archer agreed that Ukrainian businessmen like Zlochevsky — "similar to D.C. operators" — liked to "give off the impression of access that they don't necessarily actually deliver on."
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Other journalists have similarly concluded that Archer's testimony did not reveal what conservatives insisted it would
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Washington Post analyst Philip Bump published a piece titled "Devon Archer said the opposite of what Republicans claimed." Bump summarized arguments made by Republicans like Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) and noted that Archer's testimony essentially revealed the opposite. As Bump wrote:
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All of this is tied together in the narrative that Comer and Jordan have been presenting: Burisma was being probed by prosecutor Viktor Shokin so they needed Hunter Biden to loop in his father, and his father obliged. The bribery claim asserts that Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma with whom Hunter Biden and Archer met, had paid millions to Biden and his father to help protect the company from Shokin.
On Thursday, the Oversight Committee released a transcript of Archer's testimony — testimony for which Comer wasn't present. What Archer said not only doesn't comport with the presentations made by Comer and Jordan on television (which were obviously wrong from the outset), his testimony undermines the idea that Burisma wanted Shokin fired, that Zlochevsky paid any bribe — and, crucially, that Joe Biden was involved in any of this. [The Washington Post, 8/3/23]
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CNN published an article noting that Archer testified that Joe Biden discussed "'nothing' important with Hunter Biden business associates." CNN further highlighted a lack of involvement from the elder Biden revealed in Archer's testimony:
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Devon Archer also testified that he was not privy to any conversations between Hunter Biden and Joe Biden in which they discussed how Joe Biden would take official actions on behalf of his son, nor did he have any knowledge of an alleged bribery scheme involving the former vice president.
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Archer said he was not aware of any $5 million payment to Hunter or his father from the Ukrainian official.
Archer also told lawmakers that he was "not aware of any" wrongdoing by President Biden, the transcript shows. [CNN, 8/3/23]
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NBC reported that Archer testified that he "has no knowledge of wrongdoing by Joe Biden." NBC concluded that while communications with Joe took place, and that Hunter Biden sold an "illusion of access," nothing Archer testified to pointed to any wrongdoing on Joe's part:
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Archer also said that he did not disagree with the conclusion that Hunter Biden's role on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Bursma had no effect on U.S. foreign policy. And Archer testified that he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by Joe Biden as it related to his son's business dealings.
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The witness also said there were roughly 20 phone calls in which Hunter Biden would put his father on speakerphone in the presence of business associates, but he said that the brief conversations focused on pleasantries like the weather or fishing, not official business. [NBC, 8/3/23]
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Right-wing media are still continuing to hammer their narrative that Devon Archer's testimony links Joe Biden to Hunter's business dealings
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Despite what we've learned from the testimony, right-wing media are continuing their barrage of lies about the Archer testimony, relying on smoke, mirrors, and the convoluted nature of legal documents to distort the truth for their audience and insist that the testimony was the smoking gun that they promised it would be.
- Legal analyst Jonathan Turley insisted that Joe Biden fired Shokin to help Burisma, despite Archer's testimony claiming otherwise. Turley wrote, "They wanted the Bidens to take the heat off. Biden later insisted on the firing of the prosecutor." [Twitter/X, 8/3/23]
- In a piece for Townhall, Katie Pavlich insisted on a nefarious spin to Joe Biden's communications with Hunter Biden. Pavlich wrote: "Despite Joe Biden's claims he never spoke with Hunter Biden's business partners, met with them or knew what kind of things they were doing, Archer reconfirmed the former vice president attended dinner with those exact people." [Townhall, 8/3/23]
- The Daily Caller also made a big deal about Joe Biden having dinner with his son and associates. The reporting omitted Archer's repeated assertions that Joe never sold access to Hunter or his associates, and that the dinners were casual and not business-related. [The Daily Caller, 8/3/23]
- The day before the transcript was released, The Federalist's reporting scandalized Hunter Biden's calls with Joe. The Federalist wrote: "In an attempt to build what Archer called 'the Biden brand' and sell access to the then-vice president, Hunter Biden put his dad on speakerphone two dozen times in the presence of his various financial partners." [The Federalist, 8/2/23]
- The Federalist's reporting after the transcript's release latched onto Hunter's "illusion of access." The article claimed that Joe "was instrumental in his son's overseas business dealings to enrich the family" despite Archer's testimony that Joe ultimately did not involve himself in Hunter's business dealings. [The Federalist, 8/3/23]
- On Twitter/X, Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk mischaracterized the conclusions from the testimony. Kirk claimed, "Devon Archer's testimony before House Oversight exposes why Burisma and various other foreign oligarchs were willing to shell out $$ millions to the Bidens: ACCESS + PROTECTION." [Twitter/X, 8/3/23]
- The day before the transcript was released, Fox host Mark Levin claimed that Archer's testimony shows "Joe Biden should be impeached." Levin went on to claim, "For weeks I've said Joe Biden is a co-conspirator in Hunter's FARA criminal violations. We didn't need Archer's testimony to demonstrate it. It underscores what's already known." [Twitter/X, 8/2/23]
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The GOP commmittee's star witness testified under oath that the nature of these dinners remained casual and not related to business.
You cant prove wrong doing by Joe Biden by bringing on witnesses who contradict your allegations.
How many chances will the right wing committee be given to produce, you know, evidence?
You cant prove wrong doing by Joe Biden by bringing on witnesses who contradict your allegations.
good thing archer didn’t. You are being manipulated, again. For starters, You are getting your Analysis from media matters. Doesn’t that set off red flags, immediately? Can you imagine a world where media matters doesn’t simply take things out of context and regurgitate left wing talking narratives with no regard to reality? I can’t. Because that’s literally all media matters has done since that psychopath started it.
of course archer hurt the Bidens. Just look at how your talking points continue to evolve. Goldman got caught planting a false narrative about archer testifying to the “ illusion of access” just yesterday. Did media matters Cover that?
Yup. It's hard to call it an illusion once Joe Biden got put on the phone.
Do you know what a strawman is?
wasn’t he that clown from the Wizard of Oz?
If there is enough evidence, by all means, investigate and indict! Yet all we ever see is misrepresentation by the GOP of this nation, via speculation, misconstrued, so as to sound far worse, as the truth gets screwed, to a cross
street, where Trump is always innocent, and Biden Guilty, but the meat is in the T Bone, where the ribbed for his pleasure, never seem able to find that elusive treasure, while the cult liter goes to quart often, with over ample evidence, that his followers pull, like pud and wool, over their eyes, cause jerking off, apparently did make them blind
but hey, c watt u want hear, and be who one shows they are when it comes to being deceived , but, i just can’t B leave, how many continue to Cool aid consume, for and to US, the predicted Doom, that has only consumed one former potUS, so, was that a no or a yes….on that straw man dude, cause leaving me snorting crude
Exactly, the only wrong doing by joe was in looking the other way and enabling his son's ability to sell the "illusion of access".
Can you articulate what Joe Biden did that is illegal? I ask because all of the judge's and Congressmen's whose family members somehow landed on corporate boards or in lobbying firms are guilty of exactly the same. Since John Adams's younger son Charles was accused of trading in his father's name the family and friends of powerful persons have legally profited from their access to their powerful relations. It stinks, but it remains legal unless there is some blatant criminal act involved. Why does Ginni Thomas sit on multiple big corporate boards? What about John Roberts' wife?
If you are accusing Joe Biden of personally profiting from any illegal activity, or of receiving unreported income, then do so!
Joe and Jill Biden's taxes are public going back over 20 year...
Once again, do you think that if they got shady money they would be stupid enough to report it on their taxes?
Whoosh!
It’s good that you understand that Jim’s comment went over your head, and your description of the sound it makes will help your friends in the future to understand what is happening to them.
No, I haven't accused him of doing anything illegal. He may have only helped his dysfunctional son by helping to create the appearance of access and morer, else:
Why did Hunter fly on AF2 to China with VP Dad?
Why did Joe strengthen his son's claim to influence by participating in conference calls and with Hunter's foreign investors?
Why did Hunter get an invitation to a WH dinner after trying to cop a plea deal on tax evasion and illegal gun purchase?
Why as a public service, does Joe frequently talks about his other son's tragic death and needing to cure cancer but doesn't about tragic drug addiction and the need to end that
Why Joe provided favors to those buying Hunter's so-called art work?
If you are accusing Joe Biden of receiving unreported income, then do so!
I remember when Joe Biden says he understands the financial struggles of working parents because he is the poorest man in Congress. I'm sure that he is the poorest President we've had in decades. He just a tireless public servant.
Bold talk JBB, mighty bold talk.
i wrote this on another seed, but dug it up to plant hear
yes, yes it is. our two party system that allows basically only those who are backed by enough monies via lobbyists get to determine who can usually even run in an election
That aside, this giant scandal again has been based upon bullshit that the gop keep misrepresenting, and it is quite apparent, it is done to take some heat off of the Truly corrupted and indicted former potus.
It is just plain ridiculous that all this Biden Bribery Bullshit, Built up by the disgraced Tepublican Bimbos, is even being broadcast, as it has been overt speculation by bassturds bent on betraying our Nation, as they consistently conjure up Biden corruption, while downplaying Trumps destruction, of our once great nation
MAGA
Making
America
Go
Asswhole
Because it's one of the perks of being VPOTUS.
Because he actually doesn't know much about Hunter's business.
Because it helps his son.
Because Hunter is the VP's son and the second half of your statement is irrelevant.
President Biden has refocused the FDA on rehabilitation & recovery rather than punishment. This includes more funding, personnel, and federal research grants toward treatment centers, emergency psychiatric and detox services, and the social safety net. Hunter is the one in charge of going public with a book and saying don't be me.
Because it helps his son, really, this is never a consideration when you do something?
but...but...but...
There's another seed claiming just the opposite! Should I believe Archer or Comey?
That's a rhetorical question
The Republicans want 10,000 bites at the apple.
Devon Archer was supposed to be the "smoking gun" and turned out to be no such thing.
We won't wait forever for the liars Comer and Jordan to produce actual evidence, although they want us to.
Republicans want 10,000 bites at the apple
They want one. One criminal investigation which still hasn’t happened despite the literal mountain of evidence demonstrating that it’s called for.
i wonder if he is related to that Secret Agent dude…
How about reading the actual transcript?
GO212551 (house.gov)
You want her to read 145 pages of bs ? lol.
got better things to do than listen to vic
Have to admit, actually reading the transcript would give you more information than listening to talking heads...
I wouldn't trust Comey 100% any more than I would trust Schumer 100%. Reading the transcript will actually give you the words from Archer.
I just said I'm not going to do what Vic tells me to do. I am defiant to the end
I love it..... woo hoo!!!!! One should never do something just because someone tells them to. But I read his post as more a reply to your question than a statement of something you must do.
You're a nicer person than me
God, don't say that out loud. I have a reputation around here to protect...
And I could bring you references from my daughters, although they do seem to have faulty memory...
LOL! Yeah...my kids like to re-write history too
i just a single parently
don’t exist, but i have to wonder if those giving you add vice, if they immediately read the indictment s of another, because their defense seems to suggest other, and i’ve not the time to read speculative, cause when they have charged and indicted,
then ill read and ignite it, for enlightenment is meant to be seen by the herd
John, do you remember claiming, along with every other progressive here , followed the Biden talking points that burisma didn’t want Shokin fired? And how you attacked any reporter/ person claiming otherwise as a conspiracy theorist etc? It’s the key point, if burisma didn’t want shokin fired, Biden’s pressure to fire him isn’t evidence of corruption.
And now we know burisma was adamant about getting rid of shokin and asked for hunter Biden’s help. Does it bother you that you parroted Lies?
Far left Progressives seem to have no problem telling or parroting lies
The only thing that I have ever said about Shokin is that Biden asked that he be fired because that was the policy of the US government and many NATO nations.
Hmm. That's not what I remember happening when Giuliani and others claimed Burisma wanted the Bidens to help get him fired, which we now know is true. That's been the whole point of the Biden's Burisma defense. Burisma didn't want Shokin fired so how could Biden's extortion (fire him or lose billons in aid) be corrupt. That defense is out the window. And now it's just "well, the Bidens only pretended to be corrupt in order to defraud foreign businesses"
So now the question is, how involved was Joe Biden in the formulation of US policy towards Shokin? Did he advance the idea for the US to extort Ukraine to fire Shokin? Biden helped set US policy, so I trust you can see the problem with claiming "he was just following US policy" when he extorted the Ukrainian government to take an action desired by the company that was paying his family millions.
Also not sure what the policies of other NATO nations has to do with anything. Biden was the VP of the US, not NATO.
I dont read every scrap of rumor and fantasy about this like you do.
What I get from articles like the one I just linked is that Burisma wanted Hunter Biden to be a "lobbyist" for them in the US. That is what they were paying him for, not to live in Ukraine and manage gas production.
Hunter Biden convinced them that he had influence, probably because of his last name.
As far as Joe Biden going to dinner with Hunter's associates, so what? He knew he had a troubled son who had a new business opportunity as a "lobbyist", so he went to dinner with Hunter's bosses.
What you have to do is show that Joe Biden took a bribe from Burisma to fire Shokin.
We are waiting and waiting and waiting.
Didn't the IRS whistleblowers testify that Hunter Biden’s tax strategy was Delay, Divulge, and Deny to shield him by allowing the statute of limitations to expire on several tax crimes occuring when Dad was the VP?
But Joe told us numerous times that he didn't know what his son Hunter was doing, had no knowledge of his business and never talked with Hunter about his business. Once all this started to come to light the line changed to how Joe was not in business with Hunter. And by your statements you are following along with those talking points.
Where will the next talking point go to?
That's gonna leave a mark
Technically they have not yet given Hunter a pass on that. That's what caused the plea deal to fall apart, when the prosecutors said in reply to the judge that the investigation was still open and that Hunter "could" be charged in the future with FARA violations. However, I don't know if that is also covered under the Statute of Limitations, so the failure to bring that charge now might be the DOJ waiting on another clock to run out...
We will see a lot I think when this case actually goes to trial about how far the DOJ is trying to sweep all of this under the rug.
Speaking of sweeping things under the rug, has anybody heard anything in the past few weeks about Robert Hur? Any news?
so, show US A ll the evidence proving a man talking via speaker phone to his SON, is lobbying, and indict, otherwise, bite that
lip tight
He has never shown evidence of anything on this site, so dont get your hopes up.
And that's always been the obvious answer to why Burisma would give millions to a crackhead with no experience in the industry. He promised connections and protection, with the proof of concept consisting of calling his dad on speakerphone during business meetings or having him attend dinners. Then when Burisma wants Shokin fired, they tell Hunter to call "D.C." to push for it.
"The GOP committee's star witness testified under oath th at the nature of these dinners remained casual and not related to business."
Oh of course they were! And the Big Guy, aka Mr. 10%, just stopped to be in the neighborhood on multiple occasions and just popped in to say "hello" and talk about the weather! Um hmm!
No one with more than two brain cells believes this
You are talking about a group who are stupid enough to believe the president passed secrets to Putin in Helsinki and still mindlessly repeat it.