News/Commentary

‘Is that fair?’ Did Dem rep try to put words in Devon Archer’s mouth?

August 5, 2023 | | Print Article

Dan Goldman knows exactly how to spin Devon Archer’s testimony against the Bidens to deflect blame, but his argument concerning “the illusion of access” rings exceedingly hollow.

(Video Credit: Fox Business)

The full transcript of the House Oversight Committee’s interview with Hunter Biden’s former bestie and business partner Devon Archer was released Thursday morning. It shows how New York Rep. Daniel Goldman (D) spun up a propaganda headline in order to exonerate President Biden, according to Fox News.

Following the closed-door committee interview with Archer on Tuesday, Democrats rushed to the media to assert that he had described Hunter Biden’s obvious influence peddling as selling “the brand” and “the illusion of access” to his father.

The problem with that claim is that Archer never said the phrase “the illusion of access” in his testimony. That was cooked up by Goldman and Archer at first agreed with it. Then he backtracked on whether it was a fair description of what happened during Hunter Biden’s business dealings.

“It’s not about selling access to his father. It’s about selling the illusion of access to his father. Is that fair?” Goldman asked Archer, laying a predictable legal trap for him.

“Is that fair? I mean, yeah, that is – I think that’s – that’s almost fair,” Archer replied.

“Almost fair. Why almost fair?” Goldman inquired.

“Because there – there is – there are touch points and contact points that I can’t deny that happened, but nothing of material was discussed. But I can’t go on record saying that there was – there was communications,” Archer haltingly responded.

The media claimed that Archer was the one who used the phrase and ran with that narrative.

“New York Rep. Dan Goldman, who was representing Democrats inside the room, told reporters after the interview that Archer testified that Hunter sold the ‘illusion of access’ to his father,” the Associated Press reported.

“Hunter Biden Sold ‘Illusion’ of Access to His Father, Former Associate Testifies,” Time screamed in a headline.

“Hunter Biden associate describes ‘illusion of access,'” Axios reported as well on Monday.

Following the transcript’s release, CBS News on Thursday admitted that Goldman, not Archer, used the phrase “illusion of access.”

“In fact, when you look at the transcript, what you see is that that phrase, ‘illusion of access,’ is in Dan Goldman’s question — it’s actually not what Devon Archer testified to,” senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge stated.

Archer contended that Hunter Biden’s phone calls that roped in his father were a “signal” to his business partners about potential influence and access provided by the then-vice president.

“People send signals and those signals are basically used as currency. And that’s kind of how a lot of DC operators and foreign tycoons and businessmen work,” Archer stated.

He claimed that he never witnessed actual business dealings involving Joe Biden on the phone. But he went on to note that the calls alone were “signal enough to be powerful.”

“I think that the calls were – that’s what it was. They were calls to talk about the weather, and that was signal enough to be powerful,” Archer said, carefully parsing his words.

He was adamant that Hunter Biden used his “very powerful name” to “add value” to his proposed foreign business ventures in order to secure funding.

Archer told the committee that Hunter Biden “would not be so overt,” or “overtly” say “we’re going to use my dad for this,” but instead would use his father’s name to “get leverage.”

“Defensive leverage that the value is there in his work,” he commented.

“The value that Hunter Biden brought to it was having — you know, there was — the theoretical was corporate governance, but obviously, given the brand, that was a large part of the value,” Archer added. “I don’t think it was the sole value, but I do think that was a key component of the value.”

During his interview, Archer told investigators that Hunter Biden put his father on business calls at least 20 times. He said it was to sell “the brand.”

“You aren’t talking about Dr. Jill or anybody else. You’re talking about Joe Biden. Is that fair to say?” Archer was asked by investigators.

“Yeah, that’s fair to say Obviously, that brought the most value to the brand… It was Hunter Biden and him,” he continued. “We would discuss having, you know, an understanding of DC and that was a differentiating component of us being able to raise capital.”

The transcripts show that Archer was a witness to Hunter Biden putting his father on the phone during his business meetings. They also show that President Biden’s claim denying a dinner he attended with a Burisma executive was not true.

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