{"id":164737,"date":"2023-08-03T09:56:48","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T16:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=164737"},"modified":"2023-08-03T10:04:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T17:04:26","slug":"devon-archers-full-transcribed-interview-transcript-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=164737","title":{"rendered":"Devon Archer\u2019s Full Transcribed Interview Transcript Released"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today released the transcript from Devon Archer\u2019s transcribed interview. During the transcribed interview, Devon Archer confirmed then-Vice President Joe Biden was \u201cthe brand\u201d that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family. Then-Vice President Biden joined Hunter Biden and his business associates for dinners or by phone over 20 times to sell \u201cthe brand\u201d and send a signal about their power, access, and influence. Below are key exchanges from the transcript. The full transcript can be found\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Devon-Archer-Transcript.pdf\">here<\/a>, and documents discussed during the transcribed interview can be found\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/DA-Exhibits.pdf\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LXmCll0sxHw\" title=\"Transcripts of Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer&#39;s testimony released\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-164738\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HouseOversightLogo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"241\" height=\"302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HouseOversightLogo.jpg 241w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HouseOversightLogo-239x300.jpg 239w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 241px) 100vw, 241px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then-Vice President Joe Biden was \u201cthe brand\u201d used to send \u201csignals\u201d of power, access, and influence.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: You keep saying \u201cthe brand,\u201d but by \u201cbrand\u201d you mean the Biden family, correct?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Correct.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And that brand is what, in your opinion, was the majority of what the value that was delivered from Hunter Biden to Burisma?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer:\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say majority, but\u00a0I wouldn\u2019t speculate on percentages. But I do think that that was an element of it.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Andy Biggs: When you say \u201cBiden family\u201d\u00a0\u2011\u2011 sorry to cut in here. I just want to get a clarification. You aren\u2019t talking about Dr.\u00a0Jill or anybody else. You\u2019re talking about Joe Biden. Is that fair to say?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer:\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s fair to say. Listen, I think it\u2019s\u00a0\u2011\u2011 I don\u2019t think about it as, you know, Joe directly, but it\u2019s fair. That\u2019s fair to say. Obviously, that brought the most value to the brand.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: That Hunter Biden was adding value. His value that he was adding was, in part, as you said, his family.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Uh\u2011huh.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And so what is your basis for knowing that?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: My basis for knowing that? Well, I think there was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 there are particular, you know, objectives that Burisma was trying to accomplish. And a lot of it\u2019s about opening doors, you know, globally in D.C.\u00a0 And I think that, you know, that was the, you know\u00a0\u2011\u2011 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.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: My only\u00a0thought is that I think Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn\u2019t have the brand attached to it.\u00a0 That\u2019s my, like, only honest opinion.\u00a0 But I have no basis for any\u00a0\u2011\u2011 never heard any conversations\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: But that\u2019s different than Joe Biden\u2019s action.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: \u00a0Right.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: You\u2019re just talking about that Hunter was on the board.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: \u00a0Right. And I think that\u2019s why\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: \u00a0And so\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: \u2011\u2011 it was able to survive for as long as it did.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: By\u00a0\u2011\u2011 because of additional capital or\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer:\u00a0 Just because of the brand.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: Well, I don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 How does that have an impact?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Well, the capabilities to navigate D.C. that they were able to, you know, basically be in the news cycle.\u00a0 And I think that preserved them from a, you know, from a longevity standpoint.\u00a0 That\u2019s like my honest\u00a0\u2011\u2011 that\u2019s like really what I\u00a0\u2011\u2011 that\u2019s like how I think holistically.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: But how\u00a0would that work?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Because people would be intimidated to mess with them.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Goldman: In what way?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer:\u00a0 Legally.<\/p>\n<p>Then-Vice President Joe Biden attended dinners with Hunter Biden\u2019s foreign business associates who wired money to Biden associated LLCs.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And I want to talk about the value.\u00a0 Going back to this, it would be, spring of 2014 Cafe Milano dinner \u2011\u2011<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Uh\u2011huh.\u00a0 The spring of \u201914, yeah, the first one.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And since we talked about it before the break, if you could just recap.\u00a0 Can you just say again who was there?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Sure.\u00a0 Kenes Rakishev, Karim Massimov, Yelena Baturina, possibly Yury, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, possibly Eric Schwerin.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: The duration of time that Joe Biden stayed there you said you couldn\u2019t recall.\u00a0 But do you recall whether he had dinner or whether \u2011\u2011<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: He had dinner, yeah. I recall that he had dinner.\u00a0 It was a regular\u00a0\u2011\u2011 not a long dinner, but dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And so this dinner takes place in spring of 2014, approximately. But then do you recall getting a wire on February\u00a014th of 2014 from Yelena Baturina for $3.5\u00a0million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: To Rosemont Seneca Thornton?<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Yes. And why I remember that is from the \u2011\u2011 from other testimony. Yes.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: There\u2019s a wire, an incoming wire, to the Rosemont Seneca Bohai account for April\u00a022nd of 2014 for $142,300. Soon thereafter, there\u2019s an outgoing wire, which appears to be the next day, to a beneficiary of Schneider Nelson Motor for this exact same amount. What was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 first off, our understanding is that Novitas Holdings, PTE Ltd. is associated Kenes Rakishev.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: That\u2019s my understanding.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: Why did Rosemont Seneca Bohai receive this $142,000 payment from Rakishev?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: It was for a car.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: For whose car?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: For Hunter\u2019s car.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: Was this a Porsche?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: It gets a little foggy here. I believe it was a Fisker first and then a Porsche. But it was \u2011\u2011 yes, it \u2011\u2011<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: For an expensive car.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: For an expensive car, yes.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: All right.\u00a0 Let\u2019s move on to the second dinner \u2011\u2011<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: The second dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: \u2011\u2011 the spring 2015 Cafe Milano.\u00a0 Who was there?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: That dinner was \u2011\u2011 I think we went over it before, but it was Vadym, Hunter, Joe, myself, Karim Massimov, a Greek Orthodox priest, maybe someone from World Food Programme.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And what did Joe do at that dinner?\u00a0 Did he have dinner?\u00a0 How long was he there?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: He had dinner. He had dinner.\u00a0 And there was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 on that one, I believe the first one was, like, a birthday dinner, and then the second was \u2011\u2011 I think we were supposed to talk about the World Food Programme. So there was some talk about that.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Then-Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Hunter Biden\u2019s business associates by speakerphone.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: How many times would you say that Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone or referenced his father being on the phone in front of others who were either foreign investors or foreign nationals who he was soliciting business with or working with, approximately?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Approximately? The differentiation between investor and normal course of day \u2011\u2011 you know, that\u2019s a very hard thing to speculate on. But he \u2011\u2011 they spoke every day. He acknowledged that they spoke every day. And he would \u2011\u2011 you know, he would sometimes make it apparent that he spoke to his dad, and sometimes he put him on speaker. But as far as quantifying the number, you know, relative to investors, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: Not necessarily investors but with people who Hunter Biden was trying to either get business with or make contacts with or add value to?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: In my 10 \u2011\u2011 in my whole partnership, maybe 20 times.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: And during those 20 times, did Hunter Biden ever place his dad on speakerphone?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel:\u00a0But if I were to just call my dad right now and put him on speakerphone and we\u2019re in a professional business meeting here, would that be odd to you?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Would that be odd to me?<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel:\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: That would be odd, if you called your dad right now.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel:\u00a0So there is a time and a place when it\u2019s professional to do\u00a0\u2011\u2011 excuse me \u2011\u2011 where you\u2019re in a personal meeting and you may call your dad or a family member if you\u2019re with family. But if you\u2019re in a professional meeting and you\u2019re meeting foreign business leaders or whoever it may be and you just place your dad on speakerphone on the table, that\u2019s a little odd, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: That is a little odd.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s not odd \u2011\u2011 I mean, it\u2019s quite obvious what we\u2019re talking around.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel:\u00a0So what are we talking about? You are talking around it, and so I\u2019d like to get out, what are we talking about here?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: That, I think, at the end of the day, part of what was delivered is the brand. I mean, it\u2019s like anything, you know, if you\u2019re Jamie Dimon\u2019s son or any CEO. You know, I think that that\u2019s what we\u2019re talking about, is that there was brand being delivered along with other capabilities and reach \u2026 I think \u201cbrand\u201d is the best way to describe it.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel:\u00a0Going back to the calls that Hunter Biden would put on speakerphone with his father and others, can you describe what the other people would say, if you can recall, after Hunter Biden did that? Because I\u2019ll tell you, just from an everyday American, if someone were to put the Vice President of the United States on the phone right in front of you, it\u2019d be pretty impressive \u2011\u2011<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel:\u00a0\u2014and I would think there would be some sort of reaction from those people.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Yeah, I think everybody\u00a0\u2011\u2011 I think everybody remains, you know, cool and calm like it was, you know \u2011\u2011 and then probably called their friends and family and said that they spoke to him.\u00a0 But, you know, the reaction\u00a0\u2011\u2011 I don\u2019t have any specifics of, like, people jumping up and giving high\u2011fives, but I think it was, you know, a signal that, you know, they respected and thought was of value.<\/p>\n<p>Burisma executives requested Hunter Biden to get \u201chelp from D.C.\u201d to address \u201cgovernment pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: Did\u00a0\u2011\u2011 during that I\u2019ll say after dinner at the Four Seasons, did Mykola Zlochevsky or Vadym ask Hunter Biden to make any phone calls?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Yes, though I was not party to that phone call.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: What was the request?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: The request was I think they were getting pressure and they requested Hunter, you know, help them with some of that pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: What pressure?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: Government. Government pressure on their\u00a0\u2011\u2011 you know, government pressure from Ukrainian Government investigations into Mykola, et cetera. But it was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 it was not\u00a0\u2011\u2011 it wasn\u2019t like a specific\u00a0\u2011\u2011 not a specific request. It was just we were sitting there at the Four Seasons having, you know, coffee and there was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 there was Mykola, there was one of the managers for the Four Seasons who managed that property, Vadym. So it wasn\u2019t like a closed\u00a0\u2011\u2011 it was not like a specific meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Majority Counsel: When you say pressure from the government, at this time were you aware that Viktor Shokin was investigating Burisma?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: To the best, I vaguely\u00a0\u2011\u2011 whether it was Shokin, I vague\u00a0\u2011\u2011 there was a lot of pressure initially.\u00a0 There was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 there was several pressure issues.\u00a0 It was kind of a theme of Burisma.<\/p>\n<p>There was capital tied up in London, 23 million pounds. There was, you know, a U.S. visa denied and then a Mexico visa denied. And then there was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 so Shokin wasn\u2019t specifically on my radar as being an individual that was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 that was targeting him.\u00a0 But yes, there was constant pressure.\u00a0 And it was like\u00a0\u2011\u2011 it was like whack\u2011a\u2011mole in regards to the pressures that had to resolve.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jim Jordan: The request from Mr.\u00a0\u2011\u2011 from Mykola Zlochevsky and Vadym to Mr. Biden and\/or\u00a0if you said it was to you, the request for help from whom to deal with what pressure?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: The request\u00a0\u2011\u2011 you know, basically the request is like, can D.C. help? But there were not\u00a0\u2011\u2011 you know, I\u2019m not going to\u00a0\u2011\u2011 there were not\u00a0\u2011\u2011 it wasn\u2019t like\u00a0\u2011\u2011 there weren\u2019t specific, you know, can the big guy help?\u00a0It was \u2011\u2011 it\u2019s always this amorphous, can we get help in D.C.?<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Biggs: So why do you think they were asking Hunter Biden for D.C. help?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer: I mean, why?<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Biggs: I mean, what did you take away from that?<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Archer:\u00a0 Well, I mean, he was a lobbyist and an expert and obviously he carried, you know, a very powerful name. So I think it was\u00a0\u2011\u2011 that\u2019s what they were asking for.<\/p>\n<p>###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today released the transcript from Devon Archer\u2019s transcribed interview. During the transcribed interview, Devon Archer confirmed then-Vice President Joe Biden was \u201cthe brand\u201d that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family. Then-Vice President Biden joined Hunter Biden and his business [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HouseOversightLogo.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=164737"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164741,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164737\/revisions\/164741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/164738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=164737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=164737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=164737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}