The Justice Department is trying to jail Hunter Biden’s key witness, Devon Archer, on the eve of testifying before Congress
The Justice Department is urging Devon Archer to report to jail — just days before the much-anticipated testimony of Hunter Biden’s former business partner before Congress, according to new court documents.
Manhattan federal prosecutors filed a letter Saturday asking a judge to set a date for Archer to begin his one-year sentence in a fraud count unrelated to the various first-son scandals.
The motion came after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last Tuesday upheld Archer’s 2018 two-felony conviction for his role in a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe.
Archer – who will testify about Biden behind closed doors before the House Oversight Committee on Monday – had appealed the conviction.
His attorney, Matthew Schwartz, said he would file a formal response to the US Attorney’s request by Wednesday – noting that his client would continue to testify as planned, despite allegations that the Justice Department’s letter was an intimidation tactic .
“We are aware of speculation that the Justice Department’s request over the weekend to send Mr. Archer to jail is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him ahead of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee,” Schwartz said in a statement. Per political.
“To be clear, Mr. Archer disagrees with this speculation,” Schwartz added. “In any event, Mr. Archer will do what he has always planned to do, which is to show up on Monday and honestly answer questions put to him by congressional investigators.”
Schwartz has argued it is “premature” to set a prison date as the 58-year-old ponders potential appeals.
In 2009, Archer, Biden and Christopher Heinz co-founded the investment and advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, which the first son used as a vehicle for many of his overseas business ventures.
Archer is expected to testify that Hunter Biden dialed in his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to various meetings with foreign partners, The Post exclusively reported.
This is an important development in the Republican Party investigation into the Biden family, as it may link the president to his son’s business affairs.
President Biden has previously said, “I have never discussed his foreign affairs with my son.”
The White House now says the President “never did business with his son,” an obvious twist downplayed by spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.
For months, officials in the Biden administration have blasted Republicans over their investigation into the first family’s business dealings, trying to reinforce the impression that the president is not directly involved.
“Just last week, his Republican colleague on the Oversight Committee said this on camera for everyone to see: ‘I’ve heard over and over again that President Biden has not been blamed or proven for any wrongdoing here, and I acknowledge that,'” The White House spokesman Ian Sams tweeted last Tuesday.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), who served as the point of contact in the Republican investigations into the first family, has repeatedly ignored the various defensivenesses of the Biden administration and highlighted the questions his panel has uncovered so far about Biden’s activities .
Comer subpoenaed Archer in June and called the timing of writing the jail sentence request “odd.”
“I don’t want to put words in Devon Archer’s mouth,” Comer teased on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, “but I’ll say this: He has an opportunity to come to the House Oversight Committee tomorrow and tell the truth.”
Last week, Hunter Biden’s proposed settlement with federal prosecutors burned to the ground after a Trump-appointed judge raised concerns about constitutionality and shed light between the two parties.
He then pleaded not guilty to two counts of tax offenses to which he was originally expected to plead guilty.
Lawyers on both sides are expected to go back to the drawing board to work out their differences.
