"It was, you know, just general niceties and, you know, conversation in general, you know, about the geography, about the weather, whatever it may be."
Testified Devon Archer, quoted in "Hunter tried to sell family name but Joe Biden never talked business, says ex-associate/Devon Archer’s testimony to House Oversight investigators included his assertion that Hunter Biden was not able to influence his father’s actions or policy decisions" (published August 3rd in The Washington Post).
Archer testified that over the course of a decade, Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone in front of others roughly 20 times in order to sell the family “brand.” Some of those calls happened in front of clients or business partners and were characterized by Archer as brief and polite.
Joe and Hunter Biden spoke every day, Archer told investigators, and spoke even more frequently in the aftermath of Beau Biden’s death, as Hunter Biden’s struggles with alcohol addiction and drug abuse spiraled. Sometimes those calls interrupted business meetings, such as a dinner in China with Jonathan Li, the chief executive of an investment fund, where Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone. They exchanged “general niceties, and you know, conversation in general,” Archer added.
ADDED: This post made me think of a line from Season 2, Episode 6 of "Succession": "I’m outside. I don’t know anything. That’s why I’m useful" (at page 464 of "Succession – Season Two: The Complete Scripts").
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69 comments:
Biden forced the Ukrainian prosecutor to be fired. This was clearly a request for some type of action from Burisma. This article is not credible on its face.
There are 20 shell companies and evidence of the use of burner phones. You don’t need those to discuss niceties.
The people who paid money to Hunter got value for their money. We know that from the fact that Joe did get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired.
The Biden Crime Family was a typical Mafia operation.
Pure fucking spin from WaPo.
“Biden never talked business.” Duh! The question isn’t whether he merely “talked.” The question is whether he did things — took actions — that benefitted people from whom Hunter solicited money. And son of a bitch! We have him on videotape boasting about doing just that.
In the movies the dirty stuff is always worked out on a park bench somewhere in DC overlooking a monument or something…
Used to be if you wanted a liquor license in Boston the last step was booking a table for lunch at No. 9 Park. Come alone and the lady will show up, or something. Make small talk. When she signals you pass the money flat across the table and she will pick it up and stuff it in her bra. Then she’ll leave and you pay the check…
This would be enough to impeach Trump three more times.
Such ridiculous spin. Sniffy didn't have to talk business, he was the muscle. Like in a gangster movie, just there to remind people what he could do.
Of course Joe wouldn’t be involved in the details of the arrangement. What an absurd idea!
If you convene a meeting of your investors and it’s interrupted by Vladimir Putin calling to ask about your sick cat or your recipe for borscht, nobody would dream of thinking there was a quid for the quo.
Uh huh.
Well. That's that, I guess.
When you speak with a drug dealer on the phone, do you ever mention drugs?
Also; pp. 97, et seq., of the transcript;
Devon Archer relating that Hunter was regularly indicating that they needed to conduct business legally, including FARA compliance (which Archer didn't even understand at the time but came to understand later).
What a nothingburger. The biggest news was how the Majority Counsel for the Oversight Committee was forced by Rep. Dan Goldman into admitting that they possessed a drive and documents that they had not provided to the Minority Counsel. What are they hiding?
This is a textbook example of where defensive spin turns into flagrant corruption. No one on planet Earth would give scuzzy Hunter the time of day unless...prostitution...was involved.
When, if ever, will a critical mass break away from the Biden Mafia and demand accountability? Paraphrasing the key quote of the Nixon Watergate affair of the 1970s, "What did Joe know and when did he know it?"
"It was, you know, just general niceties and, you know, conversation in general, you know, about the geography, about the weather, whatever it may be."
… &bridges- lots &lots of bridges for sale.
"about the weather"
Whether I get more than 10%
Whether I have to do anything more than
Whether I have to do any traveling
Whether . . .
Joe's purpose in showing up was to show his availability- that he was all in to be there for their use, if needed. There is no other reason to call your dad up to make an appearance a business meeting. The 'brand' he talks about is Vice President, not Biden. Biden just happens to be the name of the greedy, corruptocrat holding that office at the time. These people wanted access to the Vice President of the United States. Who gets that access? So...that had to be very enticing and, obviously, worth millions to those buying the access.
But it was access to the inner circles of US Government, not Biden. It just as easily could have been, and has been, Clintons.
Nice country you have. It would be a shame if anything happened to it.
Put him on the phone
What does he want to talk about?
the weather
The weather?
Yeah, weather or not they got my fucking money!
Gee, I guess the testimony was a lot less damning than Comer and Jordan implied. And of course you guys ran with the exaggeration too.
Don't wait for the facts, it might spoil a good rant.
Joe Biden likely was using his name, and participating in these "innocuous" calls, to give the appearance that he could and might use his position as VP to influence US policy in favor of Burisma. Sleazy - yes. Illegal - prob not. Comparable to Trump's activities. Definitely not.
I think selling access is a typical swamp move, and people in both parties do this shit, all the time.
The reason we're hearing about it now is that many of the swamp monsters are determined to treat Donald Trump as a criminal.
So we're hearing about a lot of swamp stuff that might be a crime, for the first time.
Swamp monsters are not ready for this exposure. And Pravda media is trying to figure out how to air brush it, spin it, and make it disappear.
"Look, squirrel!"
Selling access is normal swamp behavior. But it looks bad. And now that the Republican swamp monsters are pissed off at the Democrat swamp monsters, all the fucking swamp monsters are about to become embarrassed, regardless of what Pravda says or does not say.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Democrats should acknowledge there are just as many Republican prosecutors, Republican juries, and Republican judges as there are Democrat ones.
It's entirely possible -- maybe even likely -- that it would be impossible to convict Joe Biden of crimes. But arrest him? Prosecute him? Photograph him in an orange jumpsuit? That's easy as shit!
The only way to avoid this shit show is for judges to bend over backwards to be fair to the party that is being prosecuted for crimes. If you want me to believe any conviction of Trump might be valid, you'd first have to remove all the Democrats from the jury pool. That would be a good start.
The presumption that prosecutors, judges, and juries are impartial is about to fall. If Democrats don't see this problem, they are dumb as shit.
Again. Close your eyes and continue to believe the lies of the Progressives who are trying to fundamentally change America as fast as they can into the shithole we are becoming. Enjoy the downfall. Americans who vote for Progressives deserve what's coming. The rest of us don't.
So… like how the mob works.
I do this at work all the time .... "Hold a moment, let me put my dad on the phone to talk about the weather."
This is perfectly normal, not at all corrupt, behavior!
The Tablet has a long article digging into the Obama years. Biden isn't the top of the food chain.
Apparently jim5301 thinks using the threat to withhold foreign aid funds in order to get the prosecutor investigating Burisma fired is only the appearance of using his influence on behalf of Burisma. Well son of a bitch!
If you're getting your coverage of this from the Post or NYT, your time would be better spent just leaning back, closing your eyes, and taking a nap, for all the full and accurate information you'll get from them.
For all those in the Biden camp: Most of you seem to be snickering that there is no 'proof' that Joe ran these enterprises. I don't hear anyone protesting that Joe wasn't involved anymore, though. What happened to the 'It's all just malarky' defense? Can we move on to 'appearance of impropriety', or do you all accept that this is, to all appearances, improper? What it improper of Trump to ask questions about it, then? Because that's the pretext used to impeach him, on precisely these grounds. No evidence - just impropriety. Agreed?
Quite obviously Hunter Biden was selling access. Joe showing up to talk about the weather or some of his grandchildren or football scores was the deliverable. And demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had the access he was selling.
That is the general case.
This specific case with Ukraine is far more damning. Because Obama put Biden in charge of US policy for the whole country. And that country was clearly financially and otherwise very dependent on the United States. So Hunter Biden showing off this level of access to Ukrainians was quantitatively and qualitatively different than doing so for Canadian or Norwegian businessman
The people who paid money to Hunter got value for their money. We know that from the fact that Joe did get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired.
Did you read the testimony? Devon Archer stated they didn't have a problem with Shokin, and that Shokin if anything, was going easy on Burisma.
So your conclusion is actually the opposite of what Archer testified. Jim Jordan lied when he said Archer testified they wanted to get rid of Shokin.
These people amuse with their antics. They couldn’t stink more if they bathed in pig excrement.
So, when Hunter introduced people to Joe, did he say "Dad, this is Ivan, he's a friend of mine.", or did he say "he's a friend of ours." ? Nuance can be very important.
This brings to mind Holly Go Lightly bringing the weather report to Sally the Tomato in Sing Sing.
I participate in conversations about fees and cap tables fairly often. One of the other topics that invariably comes up is *introductions*. Like, "Can you refer me to someone in your network who has knowledge X?" or "who is an opinion leader in our market?" Investors who can help in those areas are high-value to a new company.
The subsequent conversations are 1) often vital to the business, and 2) rarely involve a money investment by the third party.
Besides Readering, Inga, Chuck, Cooke, and Gadfly, is there a more facile thinker and commenter on this site than Freder?
- Rafe
Dems never change. It’s all always BS.
What was it that Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch talked about on her private plane? Was that also weather? Or was it grandkids?
What was it that Hillary talked about in the “secret emails”? Yoga and recipes and wedding planning?
Who ya gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?
give the appearance that he could and might use his position as VP to influence US policy
This is the very definition of corrupt that the Left now admits fits Biden and his family to the letter. The fact actual US government actions were to the benefit of those paying Hunter Biden is proof of actual wrongdoing. It is on Joseph Robinette Biden to explain why the “appearance of corruption” and his actual actions that he bragged about taking are not in fact exactly what they appear to be.
It is so much easier for the public to see the crime there than in Trump’s insistence that the election was hinky. And that stark difference is why Democrats are starting to panic about Joey’s campaign.
They spoke about grandchildren. Sorry but it's hot, and that's all we can take right now.
Bye!
Bringing a menacing brute with a visible gun to a meeting has no bearing on the temper of the discussions nor the outcome.
Where are Congressional Republicans going with this in terms of articles if impeachment. Nowhere.
The DNC-Media complex “representing” Biden comprises the largest PR team ever assembled of Top News People and yet this is a weak laughable and diaphanous conjuring of verbiage. Better than Joe’s blatant lying? We’ll see.
"Hunter tried to sell family name but Joe Biden never talked business, says ex-associate"
Biden didn't have to.
Elvis was in the building... on phone calls.
Idiots who rely on WaPoo will take that as Gospel. In fact, all Hunter had to do was include his father's voice to establish his bona fides to the "investors." The treasonous deals were conducted by Hunter.
Blogger Readering said...
Where are Congressional Republicans going with this in terms of articles if impeachment. Nowhere.
It is useless to file and pass impeachment articles which will not result in conviction by the Senate. The mistake was to impeach Clinton when there was no certainty of conviction. It poisoned politics for 30 years. That was less outrageous than the Pelosi shams.
Mark said...
"If you're getting your coverage of this from the Post or NYT, your time would be better spent just leaning back, closing your eyes, and taking a nap..."
Just lie back and think of England.
Timpf had the best line: did all the other guys at the meetings call their dads too?
gspencer said, "about the weather"
Whether I get more than 10%
Whether I have to do anything more than
Whether I have to do any traveling
Whether . . .
You joke but, you know it could have been transcribed incorrectly as "weather" when the very clever Mr. Archer really was saying "whether" just as you proposed. It is just the kind of clintonian cleverness progressive scum like these grifters and Chuck love.
Biden was on the phone calls. That’s enough to convict him of bribery.
Besides Readering, Inga, Chuck, Cooke, and Gadfly, is there a more facile thinker and commenter on this site than Freder?
Jim####?
Yet one more disappointment for Republicans, like all the other Republican investigations that were supposed to reveal bombshells but just fizzled. I suppose after time it must be disheartening.
Idiots who rely on WaPoo will take that as Gospel.
That's the best part, fellow Mike. Very few, an increasingly smaller number over Besos' tenure, rely on WaPo or other MSM. Social Media is the new word of mouth, which is why they are trying like hell to censor anything on Social Media that goes against the narrative. The network news doesn't mention Joe's crimes, but somehow a big majority believe he's done crooked things. "Can't stop the signal," as they say.
Yet one more disappointment for Republicans
That you could possibly interpret our overflowing glee at this info steadily dripping out day after day, needing a new indictment of Trump every time just to use Big Orange to distract from the truth, is proof that Michael K has had you pegged from day one. I'm thrilled with Archer's testimony. It validates the whistleblowers and former partner Bobulinski's statements. It explains why the shell companies were needed. It dovetails with Joe's braggadocio* and the laptop contents and the sham "plea deal" too.
But the best part is that it need not be reported. People instinctively get it. The stink is overwhelming. No MSM hand-holding required. The basement walls are closing in.
*"Never underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up," Obama said. Y'all should've listened to him, but you have no respect for black Americans. Tsk tsk.
No need to talk business. His presence was enough. QuidProJoe is stupid, but not stupid enough to discuss the subject of the bribery.
Blogger Readering said...
"Where are Congressional Republicans going with this in terms of articles if impeachment. Nowhere."
Yeah. Probably right. From the perspective of a partisan Democrat there is no reason to show that the POTUS is a crook supporting his son in peddling influence to foreign countries that may be enemies.
That's how far gone Democrats are. Unfortunately, they are taking the country with them.
The text message to CEFC sounded more THREATENING than quid pro quo.
If you extort someone, you're saying "give me money, or else I'll do something to you"
If the person then pays you, and you DON'T DO ANYTHING its still a crime.
So, some of Biden alleged crimes like Burisma creating a "deliverables" email to Hunter that mentions the prosecutor general of Ukraine TWICE, and then wow, his dad gets him fired a few months later...that's an action.
But threatening CEFC with powerful people regulating you, etc. THTA'S EXTORTION.
Do you what the strongest evidence is that Joe Biden was involved in Hunter's bribes and extortion racket is?
The strongest evidence is the DOJ let Hunter's tax crimes from the time period 2014-2015 lapse the statute of limitations.
That was not an oversight, or a gee whilikers error. That was deliberate.
2014-2015 is when Joe was an actual elected official. You could trace Hunter's money flow then and quite likely lead you to Hunter paying a mortgage and then you have the payoff.
There is no reason top lawyers at DOJ, tasked with fighting crime according to the rule of law that says NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW, EVEN THE POWERFUL, would let those tax crimes expire due to statute of limitations unless they had a reason.
It's all the evidence you need - not as a juror but as a voter to know its true.
Also, blocking the TWO IRS whistleblowers from following financial trails, and then firing the whole team a few months ago.
If Nixon's crime was a cover up, what do you call DOJ's crime?
“ Republican investigations that were supposed to reveal bombshells but just fizzled. I suppose after time it must be disheartening.”
Brava, Inga! Another graveyard whistler. It’s like a flop sweat drenched mashup of “Danse Macabre” and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
- Rafe
Yet one more disappointment for Republicans, like all the other Republican investigations that were supposed to reveal bombshells but just fizzled. I suppose after time it must be disheartening.
The person who screamed for years about the walls closing in, nobody knows what Mueller knows and every other bullshit fantasy about Russian collusion just wrote that statement.
Tucker interview of Devon Archer - Archer asserts that the notion that Joe wasn’t part of Hunter’s business is categorically false.
Inga thinks the Bidens are clean.
LOL. Of course she does.
Inga said...
Yet one more disappointment for Republicans, like all the other Republican investigations that were supposed to reveal bombshells but just fizzled. I suppose after time it must be disheartening.
The dullard believes DNC handouts. Biden was on speakerphone 20 times to verify that "the big guy" was in on the deal.
It is amazing to me that Democrats like the Dullard believe this stuff when they can see with their own eyes the most corrupt president in history.
Harding and Grant were done in by their associates but Biden was the center of this.
Just amazing.
Frederick Frederson says: “Did you read the testimony? Devon Archer stated they didn't have a problem with Shokin, and that Shokin if anything, was going easy on Burisma.”
This is from the NYP:
“WASHINGTON — Ukrainian prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin, who was fired months after then-Vice President Joe Biden threatened to pull $1 billion in US aid, was “a threat” to natural gas company Burisma Holdings, which paid Hunter Biden up to $1 million per year, the first son’s former business partner Devon Archer confirmed in an interview
“He was a threat. He ended up seizing assets of [Burisma owner] Nikolai [Zlochevsky] — a house, some cars, a couple properties. And Nikolai actually never went back to Ukraine after Shokin seized all of his assets,” Archer told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.”
"Joe and Hunter Biden spoke every day, Archer told investigators, and spoke even more frequently in the aftermath of Beau Biden’s death, as Hunter Biden’s struggles with alcohol addiction and drug abuse spiraled."
But for some reason Joe liked to call during business meetings to talk about the weather.
Sure.
There seems to be a large disconnect here. Either Hunter was struggling with drug abuse and alcohol addiction after Beau's death, and his dad was having heart to heart discussions with him to help him deal with it, or Hunter was meeting with sketchy Chinese and Ukranian operators making multi million dollar deals and casually picking up the phone so dad could blather with him about the weather.
Did Hunter ever say--can't talk now, Dad, doing business here? Or "this is really important, gentelemen, I need to have a private discussion with my Dad about some personal stuff"?
Nope. Hey, Dad, I'm here with "the guys." Everybody's wondering how the weather is there in DC. Nice. A little humid. Great. Say hello to President Obama for me. Thanks."
OK, guys, you heard him. Do we have a deal?
I won't vote for Biden in the primary, or in the general unless the GOP nominee is Trump, but this impeachment nonsense just elevates Trump above the field.
without Joe - Hunter doesn't have the job as bag-man.
Holy crap, are the collective left willfully stupid and blind.
Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...
without Joe - Hunter doesn't have the job as bag-man.
"Holy crap, are the collective left willfully stupid and blind."
No. But they are outraged that you aren't.
I'm getting sick of being played for a fool
I'm getting sick of being played for a fool
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