In an interview with Tucker Carlson, heavy in content but at times surprisingly jovial and light in tone, former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer directly linked President Joe Biden to his son's foreign business dealings.
"What Hunter ran into was almost like an Icarus issue," Archer told "Tucker on Twitter" in an interview posted Wednesday, two days after his Washington, D.C.-shaking, closed-door testimony before congressional investigators.
"He got a little — it was too close to the sun. It was too good to be true. And the connections were too close and the scrutiny too much. It left a wake of destruction of a lot of businesses over a number of years."
Archer told House members in closed-door testimony that he was present on some 20 occasions when Joe Biden participated in business-meeting or dinner calls with Hunter Biden, saying deals could be clinched with the "prize" of hearing the then-vice president's voice over the phone — sometimes on speaker.
"I can definitively say, at particular dinners or meetings, he knew they were business associates," Archer told Carlson. "If I were there, I was a business associate, too.
"To be completely clear on the calls: I don't know if it was an orchestrated call-in or not. It certainly was powerful, though, because if you're sitting with a foreign business person, and you hear the vice president's voice, that's prize enough. That's pretty impactful stuff for anyone in the world."
Archer said he "hit the jackpot" in joining a foreign business venture with direct access and phone lines to the incoming U.S. vice president.
Hunter Biden "brought the Biden brand," Archer told Carlson, echoing the readouts of his congressional testimony Monday.
"Obviously, the brand of Biden adds a lot of power when your dad is vice president," Archer said, again noting his alleged efforts at foreign influence peddling picked up as the Obama administration was coming into power.
"At the time I think I hit the jackpot in finding the regulatory environment or a company that could navigate right to the top, but, obviously, as time has told, being a little too close to the sun ends up burning you," Archer said, referring back to the metaphor of Hunter Biden resembling Icarus, the figure from Greek mythology who perished by flying too close to the sun with his wax wings.
Carlson referred to a letter from Vice President Biden to Archer that suggested knowledge of and even praised Archer's work in peddling foreign influence — in this case with China.
"I apologize for not getting a chance to talk to you at the luncheon yesterday," the Jan. 20, 2011 letter read, referring to then-VP Biden meeting with then Chinese President Hu Jintao. "I was having trouble getting away from hosting President Hu.
"I hope I get a chance to see you again soon with Hunter. I hope you enjoyed lunch. Thanks for coming."
The letter included a handwritten Biden note reading, "P.S. Happy you guys are together," a clear indication Biden has repeatedly lied about lacking knowledge of Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.
Carlson asked Archer if it was right for U.S. lawmakers all the way up to the White House to be connected to foreign influence peddling.
"Not that I know of," Archer said near the end of the 11-minute interview, which Carlson noted was Part 1; a longer segment is still to come.
"The initial idea around the business was they're going to provide government insight and additional network to raise capital and then to deal with regulatory issues that you might have at the corporate level," Archer began. Laughs and wry smiles with Carlson appeared to serve as a winking admission of conflicts of interest.
"You have to be an expert in knowing the guy, and he was the expert in knowing the guy," Archer said early in the interview.
Who is "the guy?" Carlson asked.
"His brother, his father, some of his father's siblings," Archer said.
"Does he have a sophisticated level of regulatory insight?" Carlson asked.
"I think he led a team that had sophisticated ..." Archer said before sharing a laugh with Carlson.
"Understanding a regulatory environment is selling access at the end of the day," Archer said.
Archer reaffirmed there were about 20 Joe Biden appearances in Hunter Biden's business calls, and said he met Joe Biden the "same thing, 20" times.
"A lot, you could say," Archer added.
At one moment during the interview, Carlson said he has called his children every day, but never during a business meeting.
Archer nodded and flashed a wide smile.
"You understand D.C., right?" Archer told Carlson during the exchange. "The power to have that access and conversation and it's not in a scheduled conference call and it's part of your family. That's like the pinnacle of D.C."