The Justice Department offered a clarification on its prison request for former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer in a letter that was sent out to a judge, stating that it would not impact plans for him to offer testimony behind closed doors in front of the House Oversight Committee on Monday. Much of the controversy stems from the fact that the letter appeared to be an attempt by the Biden administration to thwart the testimony of Archer who could potentially reveal President Joe Biden’s alleged connections to his son’s business dealings with foreign nationals while he served as vice president.
According to a report from The Daily Wire, “United States Attorney Damian Williams sent a second letter to a judge in the Southern District of New York on Sunday after Republicans on the House Oversight Committee raised concerns about the timing of his first letter on Saturday, which urged the court to pick a date for Archer to begin a prison sentence.”
“To be clear, the Government does not request (and has never requested) that the defendant surrender before his Congressional testimony,” Williams stated in the letter posted to X by New York Post columnist Miranda Devine.
The federal prosecutor then revealed that the process of a defendant surrendering and starting a prison sentence, which includes being designated to a federal facility by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, could end up taking several weeks or even months after the date is set. Clearly, this was an attempt to cool the speculation that the letter was an attempt to silence Archer from testifying before the committee.
“Nonetheless, for the avoidance of all doubt, the Government requests that any surrender date, should the Court order one, be scheduled to occur after the defendant’s Congressional testimony is completed,” Williams went on to say.
Archer, who once worked as a presidential campaign adviser for John Kerry, was given a prison sentence of a year in 2022 after he was convicted in a Native American tribal entity fraud scheme, which has nothing to do with Hunter Biden or his dad. However, the sentence was delayed due to the appeals process.
Here’s a bit more from the DW report:
The first letter sent by the U.S. attorney on Saturday similarly asked the court to determine a date for Archer to surrender to authorities, but the timing of it stirred consternation among Republicans.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told Fox host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” that he found it “odd” that the U.S. attorney sent it to court over the weekend and right before Archer was set to appear before the oversight panel. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), another member of the House Oversight Committee, said on X that if “DOJ arrests Devon Archer tomorrow as retribution for him testifying against Hunter and Joe Biden we should do everything in our power to defund the DOJ and impeach Merrick Garland.”
Matthew Schwartz, an attorney for Archer, told POLITICO that they were “aware of speculation that the Department of Justice’s weekend request to have Mr. Archer report to prison is an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him in advance of his meeting with the House Oversight Committee,” but insisted that Archer disagreed with that view and planned to speak with congressional investigators on Monday.
While the House Oversight Committee’s plan to talk with Archer looks to be going forward as was originally planned, there are some individuals who are still skeptical about the Justice Department’s motives.
“The weaponized DOJ now ‘clarifies’ they won’t try to prevent Devon Archer from testifying tomorrow,” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) commented concerning the second letter from the U.S. attorney. “Witness intimidation & obstruction? Nah, nothing to see here.”
“After obstructing justice demanding Devon Archer go to jail immediately, the DOJ sends a letter again demanding Devon Archer go to jail but back peddling as fast as possible to clarify ‘after’ his congressional testimony,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) stated on social media platform X. “Why the rare workload on Saturday and Sunday? What is the DOJ worried about?”
Something most definitely smells fishy about the DOJ’s move. They are doing everything in their power to protect Joe Biden and his reelection campaign because if something happens to him, they have to choose a brand new nominee to likely face off against former President Donald Trump in 2024. Nothing scares them more than that.