德文·阿彻作为众议院共和党人总统乔·拜登弹劾调查的关键证人，他将不会出席本周备受瞩目的公开听证会，理由是他的律师称准备时间“明显不合理”。

阿彻的律师马修·施瓦茨（Matthew Schwartz）周一在给监督委员会一名高级调查员的一封信中透露，该委员会只是在周五的一封“下班前电子邮件”中联系了他，询问他的客户是否会出席周三的听证会。施瓦茨表示，这场听证会“肯定会是一场受到密切关注的公开听证会，委员会挑衅性地将其命名为‘以权谋私:调查乔·拜登滥用公职’。”"

根据美国广播公司获得的信件副本，施瓦茨写信给委员会说:“答案是否定的。”“在如此短的时间内通知证人就国家重大问题在委员会公开露面显然是不合理的。”

监督委员会主席詹姆斯·科莫公开邀请阿彻在3月7日的公开听证会上与亨特·拜登和调查中的另外两名证人杰森·加兰尼斯和托尼·博布林斯基一起出庭，并自那以来经常在公开声明中宣传听证会。

“这是亨特（拜登）获得他想要的听证会的机会，”卡莫周末在福克斯新闻频道上说。“我们希望举行公开听证会。他说，我们实际上需要公开听证会，因为“亨特·拜登的闭门证词与调查中其他证人告诉委员会的内容存在差异”。

但根据施瓦茨的信，阿彻在上周五晚些时候首次收到委员会的消息。施瓦茨暗示，3月6日周五的电子邮件附有一份邀请，并“通过律师”转给了德文·阿彻，但他声称“后者从未发给我。”

施瓦茨暗示，这封日期为3月6日的信被错误地发送给了不同的律师。

施瓦茨说:“正如你所知（你致信的律师也证实了这一点），我是唯一一名在委员会工作中代表阿彻的律师，包括在7月的面试中代表他。”

该委员会的一名女发言人在一份声明中告诉ABC新闻，“监督委员会于3月6日向德文·阿彻的一名律师发出了邀请，他确认收到了邀请。”

“不幸的是德文·阿彻似乎不打算在听证会上作证，”这位女发言人说。

阿彻去年的证词 被众议院共和党人认为是最致命的 拜登家族涉嫌权钱交易的证据。卡莫希望在公开场合播放阿彻的一些非公开证词，包括声称亨特·拜登经常在商业伙伴在场的情况下用扬声器播放他的父亲。

但在周一的信中，施瓦茨写道:“在一场肯定会受到密切关注的公开听证会上询问一名重要证人是完全不合理的。”...在一个工作日内准备证人证词，并在不到三个工作日内准备公开作证。”

施瓦茨重申他的客户愿意配合调查，并要求他们建议阿彻未来公开作证的其他日期。阿彻目前正准备因诈骗一个美国土著部落而前往监狱报到。

亨特·拜登上周也 拒绝了专家组的邀请 公开作证，尽管此前曾表示有兴趣这样做，称听证会是一场“狂欢杂耍”和“公然为媒体策划的事件”。

阿彻和另外两名被邀请参加听证会的证人加兰尼斯和博布林斯基都曾是亨特·拜登的商业伙伴，后来成为拜登家族的批评者。

Bobulinski上周发表了一份声明，表示他打算出席听证会。

加兰尼斯的律师马克·保莱塔（Mark Paoletta）目前因证券欺诈在阿拉巴马州服刑14年。他表示，他的当事人“愿意在听证会上作证，提供时任副总统乔·拜登在商业交易中帮助儿子亨特·拜登的第一手信息。”

监督委员会的发言人没有立即回应ABC新闻的置评请求。

Key GOP impeachment witness won't attend open committee hearing, citing 'short notice'

Devon Archer, a key witness in House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, will not attend a high-profile open hearing this week, citing what his attorney characterized as a "patently unreasonable" amount of time to prepare.

Matthew Schwartz, an attorney for Archer -- a former Hunter Biden business associate, revealed Monday in a letter to a top Oversight Committee investigator that the panel only contacted him on Friday in an "end-of-day email" to inquire about whether his client would attend the hearing on Wednesday, which Schwartz says "is sure to be a closely-watched public hearing that the committee has provocatively entitled 'Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden's Abuse of Public Office.'"

"The answer is no," Schwartz wrote to the committee, according to a copy of the letter obtained by ABC News. "Providing such short notice for a witness's public appearance before the Committee on a matter of national importance is patently unreasonable."

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer publicly invited Archer to appear alongside Hunter Biden and two other witnesses in their probe -- Jason Galanis and Tony Bobulinski -- at the public hearing on March 7 and has frequently promoted the hearing in public statements since then.

"This is an opportunity for Hunter [Biden] to have the hearing he wanted," Comer said on Fox News over the weekend. “We want the public hearing. We actually need the public hearing because of the discrepancies" between Hunter Biden’s closed-door testimony and what other witnesses in the probe have told the committee, he said.

But according to Schwartz's letter, Archer first received word from the committee late Friday. Schwartz alluded to an invitation attached to the Friday email dated March 6 and transmitted to Devon Archer "via counsel," but he claimed "that latter was never sent to me."

Schwartz suggested the letter dated March 6 was mistakenly sent to a different attorney.

"As you well know (and as the lawyer to whom you sent the letter has confirmed), I have been the only lawyer to represent Mr. Archer in the Committee's work, including representing him at the July interview," Schwartz said.

A spokeswoman for the committee told ABC News in a statement that "the Oversight Committee sent the invitation to one of Devon Archer's attorneys on March 6 and he confirmed receipt."

"It's unfortunate Devon Archer appears to be planning not to testify at the hearing," the spokeswoman said.

Archer's testimony last year was promoted by House Republicans as some of the most damning evidence of the Biden family's alleged influence peddling. Comer hoped to air some of Archer's closed-door testimony -- including a claim that Hunter Biden frequently put his father on speakerphone in the presence of business associates -- in a public setting.

But in his letter Monday, Schwartz wrote that "it is not remotely reasonable to ask an important witness in what is sure to be a closely-watched public hearing ... to prepare witness testimony in one business day, and to prepare to give public testimony in less than three business days."

Schwartz reiterated his client's willingness to cooperate in the investigation and asked them to suggest other dates in the future for Archer to testify publicly. Archer is currently preparing to report to prison for defrauding a Native American tribe.

Hunter Biden last week also declined the panel's invitation to testify publicly, despite previously expressing an interest in doing so, calling the hearing a "carnival sideshow" and a "blatant planned-for-media event."

Archer and the two other witnesses invited to participate in the hearing -- Galanis and Bobulinski -- are former business associates of Hunter Biden who have since become critics of the Biden family.

Bobulinski released a statement last week signaling his intention to appear for the hearing.

Mark Paoletta, an attorney for Galanis -- who is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence in Alabama for securities fraud -- said his client "is willing to testify at this hearing to provide his firsthand knowledge of then-Vice President Joe Biden helping his son Hunter Biden in his business dealings."

A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.