As revealed in the newly-released transcript of his congressional testimony, Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner who served with him on the Burisma board of directors, told the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability that then-Vice President Joe Biden was “the brand” that his son Hunter sold around the world.
“You’ve had other conversations with Hunter Biden,” James Mandolfo, the general counsel and chief of investigations for the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, noted, adding, “You were his business partner for a long time.”
“Did he talk about how bringing his dad either to Ukraine or using his dad as Vice President would add value in the eyes of Burisma officials?” Mandolfo asked.
“Yes,” Archer answered.
“And how would that come up?” Mandolfo asked.
“I just think it’s almost — it’s pretty obvious if you’re, you know, you’re the son of a Vice President,” Archer answered. “He would — we would not talk specifically about — you know, he would not be so overt. And I think that’s, you know, I think that’s another obvious point, that he would not say, okay, we’re going to — we’re — you know, I’m overtly — we’re going to use my dad for this. But I think he would — you know, given the brand, I think he would look to, you know, to get the leverage from it”
Mandolfo cited a note from Hunter Biden to Archer dated April 22, 2014.
“Essentially, Hunter Biden copies and pastes what appears to be a quote from his father’s speech while Vice President Biden was in the Ukraine,” Mandolfo noted. “You then respond, ‘Wow. We need to make sure this ragtag temporary government in the Ukraine understands the value of Burisma to its very existence.’ Hunter Biden then said, ‘You should send to Vadym’ — and who is Vadym again?”
Mandolfo continued, “It makes it look like we are adding value.’’
“Would you agree with me this isn’t legal advice that’s adding value here that Hunter Biden is giving, the value add that Hunter Biden brings to Burisma is Vice President Biden?” Mandolfo suggested.
“The value that Hunter Biden brought to it was having — you know, there was — the theoretical was corporate governance, but obviously, given the brand, that was a large part of the value. I don’t think it was the sole value, but I do think that was a key component of the value,” Archer said.
“You keep saying ‘the brand,’ but by ‘brand’ you mean the Biden family, correct?” Mandolfo inquired.
“Correct,” Archer answered.
“When you say ‘Biden family’ … You aren’t talking about Dr. Jill or anybody else. You’re talking about Joe Biden. Is that fair to say?” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) interjected.
“Yeah, that’s fair to say,” Archer replied, adding, “Obviously, that brought the most value to the brand.”
Mandolfo asked Archer what was the basis for knowing that Hunter Biden’s family was “adding value.”
“My basis for knowing that?” Archer answered. “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 later added, “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.”
He added that Hunter Biden being on the board was why Burisma “was able to survive for as long as it did,” emphasizing “just because of the brand,” and that the impact for Burisma included “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.”
Asked how that would work, Archer answered, “Because people would be intimidated to mess with them.” When asked “in what way,” Archer replied, “Legally.”
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