According to recent court records, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing for Devon Archer to report to prison only days before the former Hunter Biden business partner’s highly anticipated congressional appearance.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan sent a letter on Saturday demanding that a judge set a date for Archer to begin his one-year sentence in a fraud case unrelated to the first son’s multiple scandals.
Archer’s 2018 conviction on two felony charges for his role in a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe was upheld last Tuesday by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Archer, who is scheduled to testify about Biden before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, had been contesting the conviction.
His attorney, Matthew Schwartz, said he would file a formal response to the US Attorney’s Office’s request by Wednesday — and that his client will continue to testify as planned, despite charges that the DOJ letter was an intimidation technique.
“We are aware of speculation that the Department of Justice’s weekend request to have Mr. Archer report to prison is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him in advance of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee,” Schwartz said in a statement, according to Politico.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL“To be clear, Mr. Archer does not agree with that speculation,” continued Schwartz. “In any case, Mr. Archer will do what he has always planned to do: show up on Monday and honestly answer the questions posed to him by Congressional investigators.”
Schwartz has argued that setting a detention date was “premature” as he considers his appeal options.
Archer, Biden, and Christopher Heinz (John Kerry’s stepson) co-founded Rosemont Seneca Partners in 2009, which the first son utilized as a vehicle for many of his abroad business ventures.
Archer is likely to testify that during numerous meetings with overseas partners, Hunter Biden would dial in his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, as The Washington Post exclusively reported.
This is a significant milestone in the GOP-led investigations into the Biden family since it potentially links the president to his son’s business dealings.
According to President Biden, “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”
The White House now claims that the president “was never in business with his son,” an apparent shift in language that press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed.
For months, Biden administration officials have slammed Republicans for their investigation into the first family’s economic practices, emphasizing that the president has not been personally implicated.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams tweeted last Tuesday, “Just last week his fellow GOP colleague on the Oversight Committee said this on camera for all to see: ‘I’ve heard over and over that President Biden has not been implicated or proven for any wrongdoing here, and I acknowledge that.’”
Just last week his fellow GOP colleague on the Oversight Committee said this on camera for all to see:
“I’ve heard over and over that President Biden has not been implicated or proven for any wrongdoing here, and I acknowledge that”pic.twitter.com/ZPZpqhO6Ig https://t.co/KgBw8TLcyE
— Ian Sams (@IanSams46) July 25, 2023
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), who has served as the GOP’s point man on the first family’s inquiries, has consistently dismissed the Biden administration’s different defensives, citing the issues Biden activity his panel has unearthed thus far.
In June, Comer subpoenaed Archer and described the timing of the jail request letter as “odd.”
“I don’t want to put words in Devon Archer’s mouth,” Comer hinted on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures, “…but I’ll say this: He has an opportunity to come tomorrow to the House Oversight Committee and tell the truth.”
So far, Republican investigators appear to be lacking conclusive evidence that the president engaged in unlawful activities with his son.
AP
Hunter Biden’s proposed plea deal with federal prosecutors went up in flames last week as a Trump-appointed judge raised constitutional issues and identified distance between the two parties.
He subsequently pled not guilty to two tax misdemeanor charges, which he was supposed to plead guilty to at first.
Both parties’ attorneys are expected to go back to the drawing board to iron out their disagreements.
