WASHINGTON — Devon Archer, former business partner Hunter Biden and a key witness A pair of House Republicans led by the GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden declined an invitation to appear in public hearings on Wednesday.
Archer’s attorney, Matthew Schwartz, said Monday that his client did not have enough time to prepare for high-level public hearings by the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, according to a copy of a letter to NBC’s House Oversight counsel obtained by NBC. News.
“It is not remotely reasonable to ask a key witness at a closely watched public hearing to prepare testimony during a day’s work under the Committee’s provocatively titled ‘Influence Trading: Investigating Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office.’ should be prepared to testify publicly in less than three days, especially while traveling,” Schwartz wrote.
ABC News reported first letter.
A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee told NBC News that the panel sent the invitation in early March, and Archer’s attorney confirmed the acceptance, adding that now “the unfortunate Devon Archer plans not to testify at the hearing.”
Schwartz stated in his letter that the invitation was never extended to me and that, as you well know (and as the attorney to whom you sent the letter attests), I was the sole attorney representing Mr. Archer in the Committee proceedings. Including representing him at the July interview.”
In a statement to NBC News, Schwartz said, “Mr. Archer remains ready and willing to cooperate with all authorities in their legal investigation, as he has repeatedly done with both House and DOJ investigators.
Archer previously appeared for a closed-door transcribed interview Committee investigators in July and testified that he was unaware of any wrongdoing by the president, including allegedly altering US foreign policy in any way for his son Hunter Biden’s business deals.
Archer was invited to be part of a panel of witnesses to support unproven Republican allegations that the president was directly involved in the son’s case and engaged in wrongdoing. The investigation has not yet provided any evidence in this regard.
The committees also extended hearing invitations to Hunter Biden and his former co-workers Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis.
Bobulinski has agreed to appear in person, while Galanis will appear remotely from a federal prison as he serves a 14-year sentence on fraud charges. In separate closed-door interviews, Bobulinski and Galanis both claimed Hunter Biden used his father’s name to help business prospects, but they offered no direct evidence that the president used public office to help his son in any way.
Hunter Biden declined to attend the hearing after previously saying he would attend if the trial was open to the public. His lawyer Abbe Lowell last week blew up the scheduled hearing as a “carnival sideshow”. Lowell said his client would agree to attend Wednesday’s meeting if the committees included “relatives of former President Trump,” including Jared Kushner, the former president’s son-in-law, whom he previously represented.
House Republicans have targeted Hunter Biden in the impeachment inquiry against his father. Their investigation took a critical blow last month by former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, whose allegations were instrumental in launching the investigation. was accused and accused of lying to the FBI about Joe Biden and his son during the 2020 presidential campaign.
Hunter Biden sat behind closed doors collapse Last month on Capitol Hill, he repeatedly denied allegations that his father was involved in his business dealings, saying he had a relationship with Bobulinski. pickled when he got out of a business deal with her.
Hunter Biden during his testimony called the probe “Unfounded and destructive political confusion” based on “MAGA-motivated conspiracies.” Over six hours of his testimony seems to have reduced support for impeachment NBC News reports that some Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Rebecca Kaplan, Ryan Nobles and Sarah Fitzpatrick reported from Washington, D.C., and Zoë Richards reported from New York.