The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Davin Archer. This means that Archer’s conviction for securities fraud stays in place, which could result in potential jail time.
Archer is out on bail
This was Archer’s second appeal. Initially, he was sentenced to one year in prison. He successfully challenged the sentence and is out on bail.
Archer’s conviction
From March 2014 through April 2016, Archer and several other businessmen engaged in a fraudulent scheme. He was convicted on federal tax charges in 2018 as part of a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe for $60 million. Since the sentencing, the conviction was overturned, reinstated, and appealed.
The first son and Archer
Hunter Biden and Archer met in 2009, ABC News reported. In his memoir, the first son said that Archer “raised my name for a possible board seat” in the Ukranian conglomerate Burisma. While Archer’s conviction has nothing to do with the President’s son, their partnership raised the disgraced businessman’s profile.
Joe Biden’s name was involved
Republicans used this connection to implicate President Biden after he was pictured golfing with Archer’s son in 2014 while he was Vice President. This photo prompted accusations that Biden was involved in his son’s business, though no proof has been provided so far.
Archer’s interview with House Oversight
Archer testified before the House Oversight Committee early in 2023. For the GOP, his testimony “confirmed several critical pieces of information in our investigation of the Bidens’ influence-peddling schemes.” However, Democrats said Archer “failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden.”
The transcript offered very little
The interview’s transcript only pointed out that Hunter Biden occasionally put his father on the speakerphone. Archer testified he was unaware of any wrongdoing by the President and stated he had”no knowledge” that the President helped his son’s business.
The President did not talk business
Archer told the Committee that he did not discuss business while President Biden was on speakerphone. Instead, Biden talked”nonspecific relative to business and just, you know, an expression of hellos, I guess.”
Archer’s conviction was overturned
The busismean’s conviction from 2018 was overturned in 2019. However, it was reinstated in 2020. In January 2024, the Supreme Court rejected Archer’s appeal for the second time.
The prosecution’s argument
The prosecutors argued that Archer and others were misusing millions that the corporation raised by issuing bonds and, instead of investing the profits as agreed, using it “for personal purposes, such as funding personal business ventures and buying jewelry, luxury cars, and a new home.”
Jason Galanis led the scheme
Jason Galanis led the scheme to defraud the Oglala Sioux Indian tribe. He was sentenced in 2020 after pleading guilty and received 189 months in prison. His convictions included The Gerova Scheme, The Scheme to Defraud Clients of Investment Firm-1, and The Tribal Bond Scheme.
Archer denied intent to fraud
In the October 2023 filing to the Supreme Court, Archer’s lawyers argued, “The plaintiff has hastily accused Archer of fraud without any basis whatsoever.”
The DOJ’s filing
“The court correctly rejected both contentions, and its decision does not conflict with any decision of this Court or any other court of appeals. No further review is warranted,” the Department of Justice wrote to the justices.
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