Former Biden family business partner Devon Archer told House lawmakers Monday that Ukrainian energy executives at Burisma hired Hunter Biden to develop the firm’s “brand” and intimidate potential opponents.
According to transcripts of the Capitol Hill interview released Thursday, Archer told members of the House Oversight Committee that Burisma might have gone under “if it didn’t have the brand attached to it.” Hunter Biden’s hiring, Archer said, contributed a network of high-powered political connections that kept the firm afloat.
“That’s my, like, honest opinion,” Archer explained.
Hunter Biden was showered with excessive compensation to serve on the corporate board of Burisma despite no prior experience in the energy industry. While Hunter Biden reportedly raked in upwards of $83,000 a month, his father was the Obama administration’s point man on Ukraine as vice president.
“I don’t understand,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., pressing Archer on why hiring Hunter Biden would “have an impact.”
“Well, the capabilities to navigate D.C. that they were able to, you know, basically be in the news cycle,” Archer said. “I think that preserved them from a, you know, from a longevity standpoint.”
“But how would that work?” Goldman asked.
“Because people would be intimidated to mess with them,” Archer said.
“In what way?” Goldman pressed.
“Legally,” Archer said.
In 2018, Biden revealed why Burisma’s opponents might have been intimidated. The elder Biden bragged in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations about how, as vice president, he pressured
