Trump issues pardon for Hunter Biden's ex-business partner Devon Archer
Washington — President Trump on Tuesday signed a pardon for Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner who testified before Congress about his business dealings with the former president's son.
Archer was convicted in 2018 for his connection to a scheme to fraudulently issue more than $60 million of tribal bonds to a the business arm of South Dakota-based Native American tribe. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Archer appealed his case, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 2024 refused to hear his attempt to overturn his conviction.
As Mr. Trump prepared to sign the pardon, Trump staff secretary Will Scharf said "the tone and tenor" of the case against Archer "changed dramatically after he began to cooperate with congressional investigators and serve as a witness against Hunter Biden and the Biden family."
"Many people have asked me to do this," Mr. Trump said before signing the pardon. "I think he was treated very unfairly. And I looked at the record, studied the records, and he was. He was a victim of a crime, as far as I'm concerned. So we're going to undo that."
"Congratulations, Devon," the president said after signing the pardon.
Archer was convicted for his role in a scheme spearheaded by businessman Jason Galanis to defraud the Wakpamni Lake Community Corp., a business arm of a community of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Prosecutors said Archer and others used proceeds from bonds for "personal purposes," such as buying jewelry, instead of reinvesting the proceeds as agreed.
In 2023, House Oversight and Accountability Committee released a 141-page transcript of its July 2023 interview with Archer, who testified that then-President Joe Biden "brought the most value to the brand" of Hunter Biden's business dealings. But when Archer was asked if he ever heard the former president discuss the "substance of Hunter Biden's business," he responded, "No."
