Hunter Biden, while finalizing the terms for his joining the board of Ukrainian natural gas giant Burisma Holdings in the spring of 2014, told his then-business partner Devon Archer to buy a burner phone, according to an email he sent him that is now raising questions about whether the phones were regularly used in his business dealings.
"Buy a cell phone from a 7/11 or CVS tmrw [tomorrow] and ill [sic] do the same," the president's son told Archer in the email, sent late on the evening of April 12, 2014, as first reported by the Daily Mail.
Further, just three days later, Archer met with then-Vice President Joe Biden in the White House, according to visitor logs, and one month after the email exchange, Burisma announced it was adding Hunter Biden to its board.
Meanwhile, a source said to be familiar with Archer's testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Monday told Mail that he indicated while speaking to lawmakers that the burner phones had been used for international conversations back in the days before cell phone companies added global calling plan features.
Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop, however, showed that he was using at least 16 private messaging apps, including many that were encrypted.
The email to Archer also included an analysis of Ukraine's political and economic situation after the ouster of then-President Viktor Yanukovych, with Hunter Biden telling his partner that "we can be of real value here" by "developing relationships, bringing US expertise to the company, supplying strategic advice on politics and geopolitical risk assesment [sic]."
"The announcement of my guys [sic] upcoming travels should be characterized as part of our advice and thinking- but what he will say and do is out of our hands," he added.
Hunter Biden noted that he wanted his contract with Burisma to begin "now — not after the upcoming visit of my guy."
Mail reported the "my guy" in the emails appeared to be Joe Biden, who visited Ukraine shortly after his son's email was sent.
Hunter Biden also said in the email that it must be stressed in "no uncertain terms that we will not and cannot intervene directly with domestic policymakers" and there would be adherence to "FARA and any other U.S. laws," which refers to federal regulations requiring lobbyists overseas to register with the Department of Justice.
In January, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., commented Hunter Biden's email to Archer sounded like a "scene-setter," or document the State Department gives lawmakers traveling overseas.
However, an official with knowledge of Ukraine intelligence matters at the time dismissed Johnson's claims, saying that the email sounded "like something he got from Wikipedia or a YouTube interview — like a paraphrased version of open-source reporting."
Meanwhile, Joe Biden, months after his son ended up on the Burisma board, increased pressure on Kyiv to oust then-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, but has denied that the push was tied to Hunter biden's business dealings with Burisma.
Archer claimed Monday that in 2015, Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky pressured Hunter Biden to gain U.S. support to oust Shokin, a readout of his testimony shows.
He said Biden was pushed to call "D.C.," but didn't specify whether "D.C." meant his father.
Zlochevsky also is the person who told an FBI informant that he was "coerced" into paying $10 million in bribes to Joe and Hunter Biden, according to information filed in an FBI FD-1023 form.
Archer, though, did not have any evidence to back that up, said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
Editorial note: This story was updated to reflect the Daily Mail originally reported this story from an exclusive source. Newsmax previously had credited The New York Post's aggregating of the reportage.