Supreme Court lets stand ex-Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer’s criminal conviction

The Supreme Court let stand former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer’s criminal conviction Monday, rejecting for a second time Archer’s bid to avoid prison.

In 2018, a federal jury convicted Archer and several others on charges of defrauding a Native American tribe by fraudulently issuing and selling more than $60 million of tribal bonds. 

In a brief order without explanation, as is typical, the Supreme Court declined to take up Archer’s appeal.

The president’s son is not implicated in the case, but Archer has become a key figure in House Republicans’ investigation into Biden’s business dealings.

Archer last summer sat down with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee behind closed doors, with each side of the aisle offering conflicting interpretations of his testimony. 

A transcript released days later showed Archer testified that Biden put his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone during some meetings with associates, but Archer said he was not aware of President Biden committing any wrongdoing.

Archer had urged the justices to revive his attempt at receiving a new trial. He had previously appealed the issue to the justices in 2021, but they declined to hear the case.

After Archer was convicted, a federal district judge ordered a new trial after harboring concerns that the evidence may in fact show Archer’s innocence in the criminal scheme. But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, saying the judge didn’t have the discretion to reweigh the evidence.

Archer had also brought to the justices a second issue not raised in his previous appeal to the Supreme Court: whether he was entitled to contest his sentence recommendation under federal guidelines after an arithmetic error was discovered on appeal.

The government contended that Archer had waited too long, forfeiting his right to dispute the calculation. 

Archer was ultimately sentenced well below the recommendation, ordered to serve a year and a day in prison, forfeit $15.7 million and pay $43.4 million in restitution.

“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 Justice Department wrote to the justices in court papers.