Republicans say the move amounts to intimidation of the key witness in the House Oversight probe
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on July 29 issued a letter to the southern district of New York seeking the imprisonment of Devon Archer, a business associate of Hunter Biden’s set to testify to Congress in the coming days.
Mr. Archer, a longtime associate of Mr. Biden’s, was sentenced in February 2022 to serve a sentence of one year and one day in a scheme involving the fraudulent sale of $60 million worth of tribal bonds. However, since then, Mr. Archer has been free as he awaits news on the date when he’ll need to turn himself over to authorities to serve out his sentence.
Ahead of his eventual surrender to authorities, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability have scheduled a closed-door hearing with Mr. Archer to get testimony regarding his relationship and business dealings with Mr. Biden as they seek to learn whether President Joe Biden, Mr. Hunter Biden’s father, had any involvement in the dealings. The testimony comes as part of a larger probe into the Bidens’ business activities as Republicans investigate concerns that the Biden family may have peddled influence among foreign nationals for financial gain.
A development in the high-profile case raised eyebrows among Republicans this weekend when, in an uncustomary move, the DOJ issued a letter on July 29 asking the District Court of Southern New York to move ahead with the imposition of a surrender date.
“The Government respectfully requests that the defendant be ordered to surrender, at a date and time determined by the Court, to a facility designated by the Bureau of Prisons to commence his term of imprisonment,” the DOJ wrote in the letter.
‘Obstruction of Justice’
Republicans said the move was an effort to intimidate the witness ahead of his highly anticipated testimony to Congress, citing the unprecedented nature of the DOJ sending out such a communication on a Saturday.
By Joseph Lord
