Yet another Hunter ‘bombshell’ is a dud

I have no brief for Hunter Biden. From what I have read, he is hardly a pillar of the community. But, despite the drumroll of innuendo, I have seen no evidence that his father, President Joe Biden, was involved in any of his business dealings with Ukraine or China, and I have seen no evidence that he received a “sweetheart deal” to end the criminal tax and gun possession case against him.

The criminal investigation of Hunter Biden was conducted by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss — a Trump holdover appointee whom Biden wisely declined to fire. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that he gave Weiss free rein to conduct the investigation and ultimate prosecution. “I don’t know how it would be possible for anybody to block him from bringing a prosecution given that he has this authority,” Garland said.

Nevertheless, Republicans have demonized Hunter Biden, his laptop, his sex life and his drug addiction. Even for me, a law-and-facts lawyer, any reference to Hunter or his laptop immediately brings to mind an association with immorality, coverup and what Republicans term the “Biden crime family.”

Hunter’s foreign business dealings, to be sure, have an aroma that has given Republicans a shovelful of mud to fling at Democrats. But, to mix a metaphor, where’s the beef? The evidence coming out of Republicans in Congress borders on the spectral. I have yet to see any proof that Joe Biden improperly used his office to help his son’s business in any substantive way. Yet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he is considering an “impeachment inquiry” of Biden based in part on the Biden family finances.

When asked about the superseding indictment of Trump in Florida, which alleged, among other things, an attempt to obstruct justice in seeking to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance tapes, McCarthy, in a transparent false equivalency, immediately shifted to Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and the tax case against Hunter Biden. He called this “two tiers of justice.”  But it just doesn’t equate! Conspiracy to obstruct justice, a felony punishable by 20 years in prison, is the same in McCarthy’s mind as a rarely prosecuted misdemeanor failure to file tax returns, punishable by one year? And, of course, the historic indictment filed in Washington yesterday for trying to overturn the peaceful and lawful process of electing the head of our government.

Just the other day, a friend, who probably read this July 30 New York Post piece, dogmatically asserted that Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer had been “arrested,” implying that the Justice Department was preventing him from testifying before the House Oversight Committee about Hunter.

Fake news. Archer was convicted in 2018 in the Southern District of New York in connection with a fraudulent scheme, unconnected to Hunter Biden, involving the issuance and sale of more than $60 million in tribal bonds. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison last year, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. The next step was for Archer to surrender to serve his time.

When it became clear that Archer would testify before Congress, the Post gave the tale a more accurate narrative, reporting that DOJ told the court that it had no intention of requesting the surrender date before Archer’s testimony was concluded. The Justice Department followed up with a letter to the court making clear that “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.”

Meanwhile, my friend and other readers of the New York Post, drinking the MAGA Kool-Aid, were convinced of some sort of DOJ conspiracy to prevent Archer from testifying to Congress.

Who is Devon Archer? He joined the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings with Hunter Biden in 2014 when Joe Biden was vice president. He also cofounded Rosemont Seneca Partners, a private equity firm, with Hunter Biden and Christopher Heinz (John Kerry’s stepson) in 2009.

The suggestion of a cover-up was debunked Monday when Archer gave a deposition to the oversight committee. It was a big nothingburger. According to Rep. Dan Goldman, “The witness was very consistent that none of those conversations had anything to do with any business dealings or transactions.” Goldman said that President Biden’s phone conversations were not conflicts of interest because it “was not done in furtherance of” his son’s business interests.

Oversight committee Chair Rep. James Comer previously subpoenaed Archer in June to appear for a deposition, noting that he “played a significant role in the Biden family’s business deals abroad, including but not limited to China, Russia, and Ukraine.” Comer also wrote that Archer has met Joe Biden on multiple occasions and was involved in transactions involving foreign companies and foreign nationals with Hunter. This is nothing more than guilt by association.

As for the China connection, the lead IRS agent investigating whether Hunter Biden committed tax crimes told Congress that his team uncovered evidence that Hunter had invoked his father, who was then out of office, on a 2017 telephone call while pressing a potential Chinese business partner to move ahead with a proposed energy deal. Hunter made millions of dollars from the business partnership, but the deal later collapsed.

It is not clear whether Joe Biden, then six months out of office, was actually present for the call or involved in any substantive way in the business activities of his son, who at the time was addicted to crack cocaine and having financial problems.

Comer said in an interview with Fox News that, “Devon Archer could be in that category of Americans that just come and tell the truth. That’s all we want.” Holding out a convicted fraudster as someone in the “category of Americans that just come and tell the truth”? Doesn’t pass the laugh test. In his testimony, Archer failed to implicate either Hunter Biden or the president in an influence peddling scheme. Yet another much-hyped Hunter “revelation” ends with a fizzle.

If we are to engage in “what abouts,” let’s talk instead about an attempt to destroy subpoenaed surveillance tapes and hiding evidence to avoid a grand jury subpoena. Let’s discuss the mishandling of classified documents, not to mention the failed coup of January 6. This is one-tiered prosecution — the stuff that equal justice under law is made on.

James D. Zirin is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He is the host of the talk show “Conversations with Jim Zirin” appearing on PBS stations around the country.