亨特·拜登的前商业伙伴德文·阿彻(Devon Archer)周一闭门会见了议员，就小拜登的商业交易以及他的父亲乔·拜登总统与他们的关系(如果有的话)作证。
阿彻和他的律师马修·施瓦茨在国会山与共和党领导的众议院监督委员会进行了几个小时的面谈。
据美国广播公司报道，阿彻有望提供亨特·拜登在乌商业交易的相关细节以前报告过.
据国会议员和熟悉证词的消息人士透露，阿彻随后在周一告诉国会议员，亨特·拜登经常在商业伙伴的陪同下接听他父亲的电话，并把他放在扬声器上——这一事态发展引发了党派对其重要性的争夺。
监督委员会的共和党主席詹姆斯·卡莫(James Comer)称之为“乔·拜登(Joe Biden)说他不知道儿子的商业交易，也没有参与其中，这是对美国人民撒谎”的证据。
民主党人将这些互动描述为善意的玩笑:“没有一丝一毫的证据表明拜登总统做过任何与亨特·拜登的商业冒险有关的事情，”纽约州众议员丹·戈德曼(Dan Goldman)说。
根据高盛的说法，亨特·拜登“向他的父亲兜售接触的假象，”阿彻告诉陪审团——但从未直接让他的父亲参与他们的任何商业交易。
卡莫还说，阿彻告诉委员会，亨特·拜登对乌克兰石油和天然气公司Burisma的价值是与拜登家族相关的“品牌”。一名民主党消息人士对此提出质疑，声称“品牌”指的是华盛顿特区，而不是拜登一家。
阿彻的律师不愿对他的当事人告诉委员会的细节发表评论，只是在证词后的一份声明中告诉ABC新闻，阿彻“诚实而完整地”回答了问题。
“我们知道，在阿彻先生今天自愿接受采访后，各方都声称取得了胜利，”施瓦茨说。“阿彻先生与委员会分享了真相，我们将让他们和其他人决定如何处理。”
阿彻和亨特·拜登曾是投资公司Rosemont Seneca的合伙人，两人还一起在Burisma的董事会任职。
亨特·拜登在他2021年的回忆录中写道，最初是阿彻在布里斯马“为可能的董事会席位提名”。美国广播公司新闻报道称，亨特·拜登和阿彻也为自己争取到了一个席位，他们在该公司的工作每月收入166，666美元。
共和党人将阿彻的证词描述为他们调查拜登家族的关键，这是因为众议院共和党领导人优先考虑努力打开一个弹劾调查试图把他和他儿子的生意联系起来。
当该委员会在6月传唤阿彻时，它表示他在“拜登家族的海外商业交易中发挥了重要作用，包括但不限于中国、俄罗斯和乌克兰。”
“阿彻先生的证词对委员会的调查至关重要，”监督委员会主席卡莫当时说。"阿彻先生是亨特·拜登在许多涉及外国人和外国公司的交易中的商业伙伴。"
然而，卡莫的办公室表示，周一上午，他不会出席作证。
一些被发现参加会议的议员是众议院司法委员会主席吉姆·乔丹、众议员戈德曼和共和党众议员安迪·比格斯。
乔丹在接受采访时走出来，告诉记者这“非常富有成效”，但在采访结束前拒绝透露细节。
国会共和党人一再声称，拜登总统参与他儿子的商业事务比他披露的更多，乔·拜登和白宫否认了这些指控。到目前为止，他们对拜登家族的调查几乎没有发现新的信息。
白宫发言人郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔说，拜登总统“从未与他的儿子做生意”
戈德曼周一说，阿彻表示“亨特每天都和他父亲通话，在长达10年的关系中，他和父亲通话约20次。亨特可能让他的父亲和许多不同的人通电话，而他们从来没有谈过任何商业交易。”
据在闭门采访进行到一半时接受记者采访的戈德曼说，阿彻澄清说，有时候是他们试图与之做生意的人，有时候是朋友或其他社交活动。
“证人非常、非常一致地表示，那些对话从未与任何商业交易或交易有关，”高盛表示。"他们纯粹是他所谓的随意交谈。"
“没有证据表明拜登总统与亨特·拜登有任何关联。共和党人一再告诉我们，这是对乔·拜登的调查，没有证据表明乔·拜登与此有关，我们现在有一个又一个证人进来，他们都证实了同样的事情，”戈德曼后来说。
“证人一遍又一遍地重复，拜登总统从未与亨特或其他任何人讨论过任何猎人的商业交易，”高盛说。
戈德曼补充说，“因此，因为亨特让他的父亲与亨特做生意的人在扬声器上讲话，就意味着拜登总统有任何关于商业的讨论，这种暗示是错误的。”
亚利桑那州众议员比格斯证实阿彻说，拜登总统从未与亨特·拜登的商业伙伴交谈过，除了寒暄。
比格斯强调了他所说的阿彻的证词，他声称如果没有拜登夫妇，布里斯马就不会幸存。
根据比格斯的说法，阿彻告诉立法者，“如果没有使用拜登品牌，Burisma早就倒闭了。由于拜登家族的品牌，人们会被吓倒，不敢合法地与Burisma打交道。”
比格斯认为“拜登品牌”指的是乔·拜登。
白宫发言人伊恩·萨姆斯(Ian Sams)周一晚些时候淡化了阿彻的证词，称“看来众议院共和党人自己大肆宣传的证人今天作证说，他从未听说拜登总统与他的儿子或他儿子的同事讨论业务，或做了任何错事。"
萨姆斯在一份书面声明中说:“众议院共和党人一直承诺提供令人震惊的证据来支持他们对总统的荒谬攻击，但一次又一次，他们总是无法提供任何证据。”。"事实上，就连他们自己的证人似乎也在驳斥他们的指控。"
阿彻周一带着自己的法律难题来到了国会山。他在2018年被判犯有联邦税收罪，这是阴谋欺诈美国土著部落的一部分。定罪被推翻，恢复，并提出上诉。
阿彻预计将在未来几个月到监狱报到，服满一年刑期。但根据法庭文件，他的律师最近表示，鉴于“他预计会继续上诉”，报告日期还为时过早。
Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner, testifies before House Oversight Committee
Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, met with lawmakers behind closed doors on Monday to testify about the younger Biden's business dealings and what, if any, involvement his father, President Joe Biden, had with them.
Archer and his attorney Matthew Schwartz were on Capitol Hill for several hours for an interview with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee.
Archer was expected to provide details related to Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine, ABC Newspreviously reported.
Archer subsequently told lawmakers on Monday that Hunter Biden would frequently take his father's phone calls in the company of business associates and put him on speakerphone, according to lawmakers and sources familiar with the testimony -- a development that sparked partisan jockeying over its significance.
James Comer, the Republican chairman of the Oversight Committee, called it evidence that "Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son's business dealings and was not involved."
Democrats framed those interactions as benign pleasantries: "Not a shred of evidence of a single conflict of interest of President Biden ever doing anything in connection or in relation to Hunter Biden's business ventures," said Rep. Dan Goldman of New York.
Hunter Biden "was selling the illusion of access to his father," Archer told the panel, according to Goldman -- but never directly involved his father in any of their business dealings.
Comer also said Archer told the committee that Hunter Biden's value to Burisma, a Ukrainian oil and gas firm, was the "the brand" associated with the Biden family. A Democratic source disputed that -- claiming "the brand" referred to Washington, D.C., not the Biden family, specifically.
An attorney for Archer would not comment on the specifics of what his client told the committee, only telling ABC News in a statement after the testimony that Archer answered questions "honestly and completely."
"We are aware that all sides are claiming victory following Mr. Archer's voluntary interview today," said Schwartz. "Mr. Archer shared the truth with the Committee, and we will leave to them and others to decide what to do with it."
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Archer and Hunter Biden previously partnered in the investment firm Rosemont Seneca and the two served together on the board of directors at 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 Hunter Biden and Archer, who also secured a seat for himself, raked in $166,666 payments each month for their work with the firm.
Republicans have portrayed Archer's testimony as key in their investigation into the Biden family, and it came as House GOP leaders prioritize efforts to open animpeachment inquiryinto President 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," Oversight Chair 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 on Monday morning he wouldn't be in attendance for the testimony.
Some lawmakers spotted arriving for the session were House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Rep. 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 Joe Biden and the White House have denied. So far, their investigations into the Biden family have revealed little new information.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan arrives to hear from Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner, as he gives closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee in Washington, July 31, 2023.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre has said that President Biden "was never in business with his son."
Goldman 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."
"There is no evidence connecting President Biden to anything related to Hunter Biden. We have been told by the Republicans repeatedly that this is an investigation into Joe Biden, there is no evidence that connects Joe Biden to any of this, and we've now had witness after witness come in and they have testified to the same thing," Goldman said later.
"The witness repeated over and over and over again, that the President Biden never discussed any business dealings of hunters with Hunter or anyone else," Goldman said.
Goldman added, "So, the implication that because Hunter put his father on the speakerphone with people that Hunter was doing business with, had meant that President Biden had any discussions about business is false."
Rep. Biggs of Arizona 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 contended that the "Biden brand" refers to Joe Biden.
White House spokesman Ian Sams downplayed Archer's testimony later on Monday, saying that "it appears that the House Republicans' own much-hyped witness today testified that he never heard of President Biden discussing business with his son or his son's associates, or doing anything wrong."
"House Republicans keep promising bombshell evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against the President, but time after time, they keep failing to produce any," Sams said in a written statement. "In fact, even their own witnesses appear to be debunking their allegations."
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.
