An alleged meeting between then-secretary of state John Kerry and Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s business partner, made headlines on Sunday, contradicting claims by Democrats and the media that the first son sold only the "illusion of access" to his father's power.
A State Department email, first revealed by Politico in 2019, shows Archer met with Kerry in 2016, when Joe Biden was vice president. "Devon Archer coming to see S today at 3:00pm—need someone to meet/greet him at C Street," a March 2, 2016, email that is partly redacted reads. Fox News confirmed this month that the "S" refers to Kerry.
Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin was fired from his position weeks later, on March 29, 2016. He said in an interview on Saturday with Fox News that he was fired at the urging of then-vice president Biden because he was investigating Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas giant that employed Archer and Hunter Biden on its board.
"I have said repeatedly in my previous interviews that [then-Ukrainian president Petro] Poroshenko fired me at the insistence of the then-vice president Biden because I was investigating Burisma," Shokin said.
Archer reportedly testified in July that Hunter "called D.C." in 2015 to get Shokin fired.
Archer alleged that Burisma executives pressured Hunter Biden to "get help from D.C." to push for the firing. At the time, Joe Biden oversaw the Obama administration's policy toward Ukraine.
The suggestion that the first son used his father's influence to benefit his Ukrainian employer runs counter to commentary from some in the media, who argue that while Hunter Biden profited from his father's name, he sold only the "illusion of access" and never actually involved his father in his business.
"Really a stunning development," one CNN host said last month while inaccurately summarizing Archer's testimony, "apparently business was never discussed."
The network was mislead by Rep. Dan Goldman (D. N.Y.), who said Archer testified that Hunter Biden sold the "illusion of access to his father." In reality, that phrase appeared only in Goldman's questioning of Archer, who pushed back at the notion that Hunter Biden never offered true access.