Selling the illusion of access: Devon Archer testifies about Hunter Biden’s use of his father’s ‘brand’
House panel releases interview transcript of Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner, testifying on Joe Biden calls
Archer was also asked if then-Vice President Biden regularly "checked in on his son, who's admitted he's had issues with drugs."
"Every day," Archer replied. But asked whether he had ever heard them discuss the "substance of Hunter Biden's business," he responded, "No."
He asked Archer, "Is it fair to say that Hunter Biden was selling the illusion of access to his father?"
Archer replied, "Yes."
Glad to have confirmation of the nothingburger, I guess.
Yeah it's not like he gave his kids jobs in his cabinet. That would be outrageous!
Yeah. I think this was fairly obvious all along.
In response to questions from Congressman Goldman about the [Joe Biden] brand's alleged impact, Archer said that it appeared to shield Burisma "because people would be intimidated to mess with them..."
Republicans on the committee asked Archer about two dinners, one in 2014 and another in 2015 at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., with Hunter Biden's foreign business associates, both of which the then-vice president attended...
Archer, according to the transcript, also testified that the elder Biden was put on speaker phone with business contacts, potential business associates including foreign national “maybe 20 times” during the course of Archer’s and Hunter Biden’s business relationship. Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell “the brand,” Archer said.
It looks like a conscious effort to imply favoritism without being stupid enough to say it out loud. It's not normal to invite your dad to dinner with your business associates, especially when your dad is VP. It's not normal to loop your dad in on a bunch of business calls, especially when your dad is VP.
Is anyone seriously suggesting Hunter Biden got on the board of a Ukranian energy company on his own merits? There's one reason you have that guy in a plush job.
Call their bluff and introduce comprehensive anti-nepotism law reforms across the political landscape. So many people in positions of power and influence would have too much to lose if they can no longer hand out favors to their spouses, children, and inlaws.
It would be incredibly funny if this would be the thing that brought stricter laws for that lol.
Never voting for Hunter ever again. I swear.
Threw all my Hunter 2024 stickers in the trash
Now do Ivanka, Don, and “I’m Eric”.
Don't forget Jared, the Saudi Royal Family's best Jewish buddy. (I just find it odd they would be buddies.)
Then, Rep. Dan Goldman, Democrat of New York, asked Archer if he had any knowledge that Joe Biden had any direct involvement with Burisma, and Archer replied, "No."
So what they're saying, it seems, is that merely being Joe Biden's son while trying to do business is corruption because it implies that you could go talk to your dad on someone's behalf if you wanted to. Please let them define that as corruption, I would love for every wealthy failson, Hunter included, to be corrupt by definition.
Which, of course, would include Jared and Ivanka.
Keep going. All of them. ALL OF THEM!
That's exactly what they are saying.
From the article:
Archer, according to the transcript, also testified that the elder Biden was put on speaker phone with business contacts, potential business associates including foreign national "maybe 20 times" during the course of Archer's and Hunter Biden's business relationship. Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell "the brand," Archer said.
Be honest, that isn't selling the "illusion" of access. That's Hunter saying "do what I want, or I get my dad on the phone to fuck up your life. Don't believe me, here, talk to him yourself"
Point still stands. Please make this illegal. Republicans, please push your legislatures to make this illegal. We'll back you up.
This is literally what Jared and Ivanka did the entire Trump presidency, yet that's not a big deal.
This is what literally every child of anyone in a position of power does.
And plenty of kids without parents in positions... My dad works at xbox dude, I swear I'm gonna hack you if you spawncamp me again.
The difference is that there is proof of their wrongdoing, And the fact that they were actual political appointees while they were doing it, not private citizens
I KNEW prior to clicking on the comments the first post I read was going to be “but what about Trump?!?”
Because it's an obvious parallel?
But you don't deny it....
Please whatabout me some more Daddy. Please you been edging me for 2 hours I want to CUM please daddy tell me how we should let Russia do what it wants cuz America in Iraq I'm SOO CLOSE PLEASE LET ME CUM OMG 💦
This is all literally to distract from Trump's crimes
Please reply to your critics here. I’m curious to hear what your defense is.
This is so weird to see as a European. You have Trump who directly or indirectly provided millions to his entire family - and the Republicans ignore it entirely -, and then you have Biden where his son made a statement like this.
It's not weird at all, once you realize it's all about a team sport mentality (and I'm being REALLY generous here) and not about integrity and honor.
Good point. The two-party system has its advantages, but clearly also it's flaws.
Fascinating to watch republicans suddenly care about this. Where were they when Trump was president?
For thee and not for me
Just remember though, keep this same energy for the people you trust too and the people in your in-groups.
Objectivity is tough to obtain but easy to pursue!
Republicans are milking this distraction for all that they can. Their dumb ass constituents don't even know they're being played. Or they like being played, it lets them comfortably embrace their ignorance and lack of character.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In response to questions from Congressman Goldman about the brand's alleged impact, Archer said that it appeared to shield Burisma "because people would be intimidated to mess with them."
In a separate line of questioning by Republican congressman Andy Biggs, of Arizona, Archer was asked whether the brand was about "Dr. Jill or anybody else.
Republicans on the committee asked Archer about two dinners, one in 2014 and another in 2015 at a restaurant in Washington, D.C., with Hunter Biden's foreign business associates, both of which the then-vice president attended.
Archer's interview was the latest development in the GOP's investigations into Hunter Biden as Republicans seek to tie his controversial business dealings to the president.
The Oversight Committee has sought information on any possible involvement from the president in his son's foreign business deals for months.
His conviction was overturned later that year, and U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abram wrote in her decision she was "left with an unwavering concern that Archer is innocent of the crimes charged."
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
lmao these R congress squatters are insane.
I hate how corruption is so rampant in politics. Trump did much worse, but this shouldn't be seen as nothing.
Trump was incredibly corrupt and certainly deserves to be punished, but this doesn't in anyway excuse what happened with Hunter Biden peddling influence for millions of dollars to foreign companies. When you dig into the details it's really quite shocking. I also fully acknowledge that this probably happens with other powerful families - which I would argue should also be rooted out and potentially punished.
I wish we would stop being so tribal - always rationalizing and defending bad behavior when it's "our side". We should call this out whenever it happens, regardless of party and political affiliation. Politics has become like sports, and we've become like rabid sports fans. It's really dysfunctional.
Personally I think neither party deserves any sort of allegiance whatsoever. They're both working for their own self-interest and to stay in power, and they're largely controlled by elites. I'll vote for whatever candidate talks about the corruption money plays in our political system, which in my opinion this is the largest threat to our democracy.
Is anyone defending Hunter Biden? I mean, I'm sure someone is (other than his lawyers who are paid to), but from what I've seen, everyone is of the thought that what he did is wrong and he should be prosecuted. Your comment feels like along winded "both sides" while propping up a strawman for one side and comparing it to a real person on the other and calling them equal.
That really wasn't my intention, but I can see why you might think that. For the record I've largely voted Democratic (probably 80%+ over the past 4 election cycles - I do split my ticket typically) - so I'm definitely not trying to strawman here for the right.
I think there's more and more evidence that Biden knew more than he originally admitted to, and that's what I'm referring to. At the end of the day I really just think money corrupts politics and we should call that out whenever we see it.
He should be prosecuted if he did anything illegal. But as far as I've heard he hasn't (other than whatever tax stuff he was charged with).
Curious how none of these Republican house committee members gave a damn when everyone of Trump‘s children did this for their entire lives. Now they suddenly have a problem with Hunter Biden doing it?
Give me a fucking break 
With Donald's endorsement.
I think you’re missing the point. It’s one thing to use your parents’ influence to get ahead in business, but it’s another thing entirely to use their influence to withhold international aid and pressure a foreign government to kill a corruption investigation into the company that you just so happen to sit on the board of. Granted, these are all just allegations at this point, but that’s why this case is receiving so much attention.
I know you’re just repeating talking points and not actually advocating for one side or the other, but I do want to provide some balance to this part
The corruption investigation in Ukraine was being lead by an investigator, Viktor Shokin, who was himself so corrupt that he drew international condemnation (before this investigation was even opened)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1247320
Well, if you can produce evidence of that, or if anyone else can produce evidence of that, then it should be investigated. Currently, there is no evidence of that. Therefore, an investigation into that does not seem to be warranted. Not legally, anyway.
You even admit that all there are are “allegations”. That’s not enough to even sustain a search warrant. You can’t just go violating someone’s rights because you have some sort of allegation or suspicion. And the GOP is trying to start some conspiracy circus because they don’t have dirt on Joe Biden, so they’re trying to get to him by making up a bunch of crap about his son instead. and while Hunter Biden may be kind of a scumbag, unless they can actually produce evidence that he did anything illegal with regards to his father, and they haven’t been able to so far, there’s no reason to start a house committee investigation.
I think you're missing the point. Ousting Shokin wasn't Biden blocking corruption investigations, it was him literally doing the bidding of the Obama administration, and was supported by the IMF and the entire G-7. That's why he was proud of it, because it was an example of him doing his job exceptionally well. Also Shokin liked to open investigations then leave them open as blackmail, which is exactly what he did to Burisma, so this isn't some smoking gun.
I think you're missing the part of the report where this "bombshell testimony" confirms that that never happened, and all these charges hinge on the implication that it could just because Hunter is Joe's son. This is about, to quote the testimony, "the illusion of access to the president".
Because they don’t care and never cared. They’re entirely disingenuous and trying to call them out on hypocrisy as if it matters is a losing game.
It's not great, but it's also not a big deal. Kids flaunt their famous parents.
The difference here? Trump's kids actually legit sold access, with their father's enthusiastic consent* and involvement.
The only time he's ever cared about consent
The answer in this case is neither.
But you'll notice a deafening absence of criticism from the right when The Idiot's children did all this and much worse, and vanishingly little liberal defense of Hunter.
There is no great Democratic hypocrisy on this subject. He was going to plead guilty and be sentenced and nobody really objected. What he did was undesirable and gross and apparently over-the-line, but it's not much of a scandal even on pre-Idiot levels. (Five or six years of constantly going "holy shit what the fuck is going on?" has tilted that scale to where this barely registers.)
On the other hand - Republicans suddenly feigning deep concern about nepotism and propriety is so two-faced that it's not even funny. Idiot Junior, whats-her-face, and Eric were only outdone in classical naked corruption by The Idiot himself, because he's too stupid to know why people act coy about it. He pardoned Rod Blagojevich. His children aren't screaming narcissists, so their efforts were slightly more subtle, while still including overt criminal behavior.
I would say it's worse in Trump's case because Ivanka and Jared had been working for the white house. Jared also had security clearance which he never should have had.
When Hunter works for the government or runs for office, then I'll care. Right now he's just a private citizen and he doesn't seem to have any influence in his father's job.
This isn't strictly true, but even if it were, do you see anyone on the democratic side opening investigations into the Trump kids doing this?
It's bad in the sense that I wouldn't want to hang out with someone who did it, but there's nothing illegal in using your famous parent to get a leg up in your own dealings.
It makes you seem like a spoiled trust fund kiddy, but last time I checked, being obnoxious isn't actually a crime.
The point being made isn't that it's OK for Hunter but bad for the Trump kids, it's that its being made out as a conspiracy and crime for Hunter by republicans, whereas those same Republicans had no issue whatsoever with the Trump kids doing it (and continuing to do it today)
I think if either party wants to be taken seriously, they should start by looking within their own party and prove that nobody is above the law.
Trumps, Bidens I don't care. But instead of attacking your political opponent's family, why not show the world what you stand for yourself by persecuting those within your own party.
"Lead by example"