White House Denies Biden Involvement in Son’s Business Dealings: ‘Evidence-Free Wild Goose Chase’

The White House on Monday denied that Joe Biden had any involvement in his son’s business dealings after a key witness testified to the House Oversight Committee that the then–vice president joined Hunter Biden’s meetings at least 20 times.

Republican committee chairman James Comer said in a statement that testimony from former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer “confirms Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved.” Archer worked with Hunter Biden on the board of Ukrainian natural-gas firm Burisma Holdings beginning in 2014. The pair went on to found the investment firm Rosemont Seneca together, where Archer served as managing director.

“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,” White House spokesman Ian Sams told multiple media outlets. “House Republicans keep promising bombshell evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against the President, but time after time, they keep failing to produce any.”

While serving as vice president, Biden attended Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times, Comer confirmed. Burisma executives allegedly asked Hunter Biden to “call D.C.” after a board meeting in Dubai during a time when the company’s owner was under scrutiny from the Ukrainian prosecutor probing Burma for corruption, Comer relayed from Archer’s testimony.

The meetings that Biden, while vice president, allegedly joined via phone were with a French energy company and with Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR in China. Archer said Biden, as vice president, also had coffee with Li in Beijing and even wrote a college letter of recommendation for Li’s daughter. Yet the White House spokesman dismissed the opening investigation as aimless and ill-advised.

“In fact, even their own witnesses appear to be debunking their allegations. Instead of continuing to waste time and resources on this evidence-free wild goose chase, House Republicans should drop these stunts and work with the President on the issues that actually impact Americans’ daily lives, like continuing to lower costs, create jobs, and strengthen health care,” Sams said.

The Department of Justice also denied that its Saturday letter to a federal judge was seeking the surrender of Archer on charges unrelated to the scandals of Hunter Biden ahead of his scheduled Monday testimony, to keep him from testifying.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York sent a letter on Saturday to Judge Ronnie Abrams, asking her to schedule a date for Archer to report to prison. A few days earlier, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that Archer would serve a one-year sentence in a case of fraud, which he was convicted of in 2018.