Devon Archer Says Joe Biden Often Joined Calls With Son Hunter

WASHINGTON—A former business associate of Hunter Biden testified on Monday to Congress that President Biden and his son were in near daily communication and that the younger Biden would occasionally put his father on speakerphone at business dinners and in other situations, according to lawmakers present for the closed-door briefing. 

The associate, Devon Archer, said that Joe Biden and his son never discussed business on these calls, only engaging in casual conversation about such things as the weather. But the testimony paints a more detailed picture of how Hunter Biden may have highlighted his close relationship with his father as part of his pitch to potential clients and raises fresh questions about how much Joe Biden was aware of his son’s overseas business ventures.

Republicans have been probing whether Joe Biden had any involvement in his son’s business dealings, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said that Republicans are set to pursue an impeachment inquiry of President Biden to boost their investigatory powers. The White House has said that Biden was never in business with his son. 

Archer appeared Monday in front of a GOP-led panel probing the business dealings of Biden’s son, the latest in a long-running political drama about the younger Biden’s globe-trotting consulting and investment work for Ukraine’s Burisma energy company and a variety of foreign entities in places including China.

Archer testified that Joe Biden was put on the phone to help Hunter Biden sell what he called “the brand,” according to Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

Comer said Archer testified that there were about 20 phone calls including Joe Biden. The calls took place while Joe Biden was vice president and included one during a dinner in Paris with a French energy company and another in China with Jonathan Li, the CEO of Chinese private-equity firm BHR.

Archer’s testimony “confirms Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved,” said Comer.

Hunter Biden’s legal team downplayed the importance of the testimony. “It’s well known that Hunter and his father speak daily,” said lawyer Abbe Lowell. “What Mr. Archer confirmed today was that when those calls occurred during Hunter’s business meetings, if there was any interaction between his father and his business associates, it was simply to exchange small talk,” he said.

The White House has denied that President Biden was a party to his son’s business dealings. White House spokesman Ian Sams said the GOP probe amounted to an “evidence-free wild goose chase” and that the testimony Monday didn’t show any wrongdoing. While running for president, Joe Biden said he had “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”

Rep. Dan Goldman

Archer’s testimony was “very, very consistent that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions,” Goldman said. 

Goldman also said that it wasn’t always clear that Joe Biden was aware that he was on speakerphone with Hunter Biden’s associates. “Hunter would put his father on speakerphone with whomever was at dinner and there was no indication that he had any idea who was at dinner,” Goldman said. 

Rep. Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.), another member of Oversight, said Archer testified that only pleasantries were exchanged when Joe Biden was on the phone. Still, Biggs said that he was confident that the testimony implicated Biden in his son’s business activities. 

Archer’s testimony covered a period when he and Hunter Biden served on Burisma’s board of directors. Comer said that Archer testified that Burisma’s owner “placed constant pressure on Hunter Biden” to “get help from D.C.” to tamp down

Archer didn’t respond to questions on his way out of the hearing Monday afternoon.

Archer and Hunter Biden were involved in businesses together since at least 2009. The two men served together on the board of Burisma, which has become the focus of a Republican-led investigation into potential conflicts of interest. 

Archer was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy charges related to a scheme to defraud a Native American tribal corporation and was sentenced to 12 months in prison. He has appealed the verdict, but is due to report to prison and begin serving his sentence in the coming months. 

Hunter Biden did lean on his famous last name as he sought opportunities with foreign tycoons who hoped to forge Washington connections, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. As the son of a veteran American politician, Hunter Biden offered a potential trove of connections for foreign companies and corporations, the Journal reported. 

During many of the events being probed by the committee, Joe Biden was serving as vice president under Barack Obama. As vice president, Biden was given a substantial portfolio as an administration point person on a number of issues including U.S.-Ukraine relations, but the formal powers of the vice presidency are limited. 

The younger Biden made millions from his consulting work between 2013 and 2018, before his life spiraled out of control. He battled drug addiction and has been dogged by outstanding tax problems. 

Hunter Biden is expected to plead guilty to tax charges and enter a diversion program to resolve an outstanding gun charge with no prison time. However, a judge has yet to approve the deal over concerns about some of the provisions. 

Republicans recently released an FBI document that detailed unsubstantiated claims that Burisma hired Hunter Biden at his father’s request and was making payments to the Biden family in exchange for political influence. Democrats said the claims aren’t credible. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md.), the top Democrat on Oversight, said Monday that Archer told the committee he didn’t believe the allegations of bribery in the FBI document were credible and that he wasn’t aware of “actual evidence of corruption, wrongdoing, or impropriety” by Joe Biden.

Republicans have released details about how relatives of the president received millions of dollars from foreign sources between 2015 and 2017. No evidence has emerged that Joe Biden, as president or vice president, took any official actions linked to the payments.

Write to Simon J. Levien at [email protected], Annie Linskey at [email protected] and Byron Tau at [email protected]