Hunter Biden's former business partner, Devon Archer, has appeal rejected by Supreme Court

Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, arrives on Capitol Hill to give closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee in the Republican-led investigations into President Joe Biden’s son, in Washington, Monday, July 31, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ORG XMIT: DCSA113

WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former business partner of Hunter Biden’s who was convicted in 2018 for his role in a scheme surrounding the fraudulent sale of more than $60 million in tribal bonds.

Devon Archer was sentenced to a year and a day in prison last year, and the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Archer’s appeal of his sentence.

Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was not involved in the scheme. But Archer’s connection to Biden was invoked to burnish his credentials, according to court records.

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While Archer was appealing his sentence, House Republicans questioned him about other business dealings. Both Archer and Biden served on the board of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma.

Republicans have looked for evidence that Joe Biden was also involved in and benefited from his family’s business dealings.

Archer told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee last year that Hunter Biden put his father on the speakerphone with associates about 20 times during a 10-year partnership. But, Archer, testified, “there was no business conversation.”

“It was, you know, just general niceties and, you know, conversation in general about the geography, about the weather, whatever it may be,” Archer testified.

In addition to his prison sentence, Archer was ordered to forfeit $15.7 million and pay $43.4 million in restitution.

The Supreme Court in 2021 rejected an initial appeal by Archer. In his second appeal, Archer raised a new question about a mistake made by the district court in calculating the sentencing range. The Justice Department argued that Archer waited too long to raise an objection.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Devon Archer, has appeal rejected by Supreme Court