In an intriguing revelation, Monday’s transcript of the House Oversight Committee’s closed-door testimony unveils information contrary to Joe Biden’s long-held insistence that he played no part in his son Hunter Biden’s business affairs.
Hunter’s former business associate, Devon Archer, confirmed during his testimony that the elder Biden attended at least two dinners involving Hunter’s business partners. This included a notable event in April 2015, attended by Vadym Pozharsky, an executive of the Ukrainian energy firm, Burisma Holdings.
Archer further testified that at the said dinner, the conversation surrounding the United Nations World Food Programme came up, as Hunter was on the board of the World Food Program USA at the time. In December of that same year, Archer and Hunter were in Dubai for a Burisma board meeting, with Pozharsky and Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky in attendance.
According to Archer, the Burisma executives appealed to Hunter during one of these meetings to “call D.C.” amidst mounting pressure from Ukrainian prosecutors. Archer, detailing these interactions, spoke about a sense of ambiguity in the executives’ requests for assistance from the capital.
A curious chain of events unfolds following this meeting, with Hunter making a call to D.C. from Dubai and then-Vice President Joe Biden delivering a speech in Ukraine a mere five days later. In his speech, he called for reform in the office of the general prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was concurrently investigating potential corruption at Burisma.
It’s important to note that Hunter was serving on Burisma’s board, earning $1 million annually, while his father was the Obama administration’s point man on Ukraine. Eventually, Biden demanded the firing of Shokin by the then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees.
Biden’s allies argue that Shokin’s dismissal was due to laxity on corruption and consistent with the policy position of the U.S. and international community. However, Archer’s testimony suggests a contrasting view. He mentioned that various members of the D.C. team considered Shokin’s firing detrimental to Burisma, as Shokin was “under control”.
Furthermore, Archer refuted an accusation made by a confidential FBI source in 2020, asserting that both Bidens received a $5 million bribe from Zlochevsky. Archer stated he was unaware of such payments and suggested that Zlochevsky might have boasted about his special access to Biden.
With these revelations from the testimony, it appears that Biden’s dealings with his son’s business may not be as detached as previously presented. The implications of these dealings, especially with respect to foreign policy decisions, bear further scrutiny, underscoring the importance of transparency in public office.
