Global Courant 2023-04-14 14:00:22
FIRST ON FOX: Hunter Biden’s attorney met with then-Vice President Joe Biden at the White House in 2016 on the same day the attorney met with Hunter to discuss a subpoena related to the federal investigation into the business partner from Hunter, Devon Archer, records show.
On March 23, 2016, Hunter emailed Eric Schwerin, then president of Hunter’s now-defunct investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners and attorney Christopher Boies, saying he had received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ) to search for information. related to an investigation into Archer, the company’s CEO at the time.
“I have received an SEC subpoena for all information I have regarding the situation Devin (sic) is facing,” Hunter wrote. “I have no relevant information that I know of, but wanted to consult with the same team representing Devon if appropriate. Let me know how to proceed. Thanks, Hunter.’
In a March 2016 email, Hunter Biden told longtime business partner Eric Schwerin that he had “received an SEC subpoena for all information” he had regarding the Devon Archer investigation. (Fox News digital)
BIDEN CLAIMES NO KNOWLEDGE OF HUNTER BUSINESS DEALING GETS HARDER TO KEEP
Less than two weeks later, on April 4, Hunter met with attorneys “George Mesires and Michael MacPhail on duty to discuss the subpoena,” according to an email to Hunter from Joan Mayer, a top associate at Rosemont Seneca. Days earlier, Mesires called MacPhail a “Big SEC investigator” in an email to Schwerin. Schwerin then forwarded the email to Hunter.
George Mesires introduced Michael MacPhail to Eric Schwerin, calling him the “Big SEC Investigator”. (Fox News digital)
It’s unclear what the trio discussed in the Rosemont Seneca office regarding the subpoena, but White House visitor logs show that Mesires met Biden at the White House that same day.
Although Hunter was also scheduled to attend a Greek Independence Day reception at the White House later that day with his father, Mayer’s email shows that Mesires was not present at the Greek event, according to Mayer’s email.
Hunter was scheduled to attend the Greek event at 3:15 p.m. and meet his father in the West Wing at 4:15 p.m.
Mesires was scheduled to meet with Biden 15 minutes later at 4:30 p.m
US President Joe Biden (L) and his son Hunter Biden (2nd L) attend the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
JOE BIDEN MET AT LEAST 14 OF HUNTER BIDEN’S BUSINESS EMPLOYEES WHILE VICE PRESIDENT
The White House, MacPhail and Mesires did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital asking about the nature of Mesires’ meeting with Biden and whether the subpoena had been discussed.
Just over a month after the trio met in April 2016, Hunter, Schwerin, Mesires and others exchanged emails as reports began to emerge about Archer being accused of “selling fake bonds” and being confronted with “securities fraud charges related to alleged tribal bond settlement.”
A crisis communications company relayed to Hunter Biden and Schwerin that Archer or Hunter were not mentioned in a Reuters article.
Responding to a Wall Street Journal report the same day, Hunter said, “Thoughts? I don’t think this is good if 1/3 of the story is about our relationship – 5 paragraphs out of 16. Anyway, we can push harder reducing .”
Hunter Biden expressed concern in a May 2016 report in the Wall Street Journal, saying “I don’t think this is good if 1/3 of the story is about our relationship,” referring to Devon Archer. (Fox News digital)
“There are no allegations that you had anything to do with this, just that you’re in business together. Still not good, but I’m not sure how we’re going to push back without inviting more questions, but deferring to our experts,” Schwerin said , trying to reassure Hunter. “On what to expect from WSJ given their previous articles.”
Schwerin would later claim in an email about the WSJ article that “Devon has never ‘worked’ for RSP, he is currently a partner in it along with Hunter and me, but RSP itself is an empty shell of a company that holds no assets once sold. RSA to Burnham.”
Robert Hoopes, a former Biden aide and crisis communications expert who regularly emailed Hunter, told the group that the WSJ article was “better than I hoped based on” the conversations with the reporter. He added, “We’re not in the headline or main paragraphs. And honestly, I thought we might be.
“All quotes in this piece are from lawyers defending clients named in the complaints and we are not on the list, which is also good,” he continued. “We are not being named and so are not commenting. We may consider being more aggressive in a separation strategy and/or letting BAM take the lead.”
A jury convicted Archer of conspiracy to commit securities and securities fraud after a trial in 2018 and he was later sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison in February 2022 for his role in a plan to exterminate a Native American tribe to light.
Prosecutors alleged that Archer and his co-defendants bought more than $60 million in bonds from the Oglala Sioux, which were then used to “build a mega financial services company” instead of holding the bonds for annuity.
U.S. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen walk toward the motorcade after arriving on Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington, D>C., on April 9, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital previously reported that Archer visited Biden’s vice presidential residence for a holiday reception in December 2009, and he met Biden at the West Wing in April 2014. He also played golf with Biden and Hunter at least once during the Obama administration in August . 2014 in the Hamptons, four months after he and Hunter joined the board of directors of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings.
In fact, records show that Biden met with more than a dozen of Hunter’s business associates, and some of those associates and top Rosemont Seneca associates visited the White House more than 90 times when he was vice president in the Obama administration, leading the president to repeated urgings his lack of knowledge of his son’s business dealings was more difficult to maintain.
President Biden is currently touring Ireland with Hunter and his sister and former campaign manager, Valerie Biden Owens, as duplicate investigations into the Biden family take off.
Jessica Chasmar is a digital writer on the Fox News and Fox Business political team. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
