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Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, met with lawmakers behind closed doors Monday to testify about the younger Biden’s business dealings and what, if any, involvement his father had with them.
Archer and his attorney Matthew Schwartz were on Capitol Hill for several hours for a closed-door interview with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee.
Archer was expected to provide details related to Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine, ABC News previously reported.
Archer and Hunter Biden partnered the investment firm Rosemont Seneca and the two served together on the board of directors at the Ukrainian oil and gas firm Burisma.
Hunter Biden wrote in his 2021 memoir that it was Archer who initially “raised my name for a possible board seat” at Burisma. ABC News has reported that Biden and Archer, who also secured a seat for himself, raked in $166,666 payments each month for their work with the firm.
Republicans viewed Archer’s testimony as key in their investigation into the Biden family, and came as House GOP leaders prioritize efforts to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden by attempting to link him to his son’s business dealings.
When the panel subpoenaed Archer in June, it stated he played a “significant role in the Biden family’s business deals abroad, including but not limited to China, Russia, and Ukraine.”
“Mr. Archer’s testimony is critical to the Committee’s investigation,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said at the time. “Mr. Archer was Hunter Biden’s business partner in a number of transactions involving foreign nationals and foreign companies.”
However, Comer’s office said Monday he wouldn’t be in attendance for the closed-door testimony.
Some lawmakers spotted arriving for the session were House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman and Republican Rep. Andy Biggs.
Jordan, stepping out during the interview, told reporters it “very productive” but declined to get into specifics until it was over.
Congressional Republicans have repeatedly claimed President Biden was more involved in his son’s business affairs than he’s disclosed — allegations Biden and the White House have denied. So far, their investigations into the Biden family have revealed little new information.
Last week, a New York Post report claimed that Archer was going to testify that Hunter Biden had put his father on speakerphone with business associates during the elder Biden’s time as vice president.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, asked about the report, said that President Biden “was never in business with his son.”
Rep. Goldman, D-N.Y., said Monday that Archer indicated “Hunter spoke to his father every day and approximately 20 times over the course of a 10-year relationship, Hunter may have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and they never once spoke about any business dealings.”
Archer clarified that it was sometimes people they were trying to do business with, and it was sometimes friends or other social engagements, according to Goldman, who spoke with reporters about halfway through the closed-door interview.
“The witness was very, very consistent, that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions,” Goldman said. “They were purely what he called casual conversation.”
Republican Rep. Biggs confirmed Archer said President Biden never spoke with Hunter Biden’s business associates beyond pleasantries.
Biggs highlighted what he said was testimony from Archer claiming that Burisma would not have survived without the Bidens.
According to Biggs, Archer told lawmakers, “Burisma would have gone out of business had the Biden brand not been invoked. People would be intimidated to legally mess with Burisma because of the Biden family brand.”
Biggs said the “Biden brand” refers to Joe Biden.
Archer arrived on Capitol Hill Monday with his own legal travails. He was convicted on federal tax charges in 2018 as part of a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe. The conviction was overturned, reinstated, and appealed. Archer is expected to report to prison in the coming months to serve his one-year sentence. But his counsel recently said a report date would be premature in light of “his anticipated continuing appeal,” according to court documents.
In a statement to ABC News, an attorney for Archer said his client answered the committee’s questions “honestly and completely.”
“We are aware that all sides are claiming victory following Mr. Archer’s voluntary interview today,” Schwartz said. “But all Devon Archer did was exactly what we said he would: show up and answer the questions put to him honestly and completely. Mr. Archer shared the truth with the Committee, and we will leave to them and others to decide what to do with it.”
ABC’s Lucien Bruggeman and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
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