Devon Archer testified to Congress on Monday that he was on a speakerphone multiple times with Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden when the latter was vice president.
But Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner, said they only discussed pleasantries, not business dealings involving Ukraine and China.
Archer testified that Joe Biden was put on the phone to help Hunter Biden sell what he called "the brand," according to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
According to reports, Hunter Biden was paid millions of dollars as a consultant to Ukraine gas company Burisma and other entities overseas, allegedly to gain access to the vice president.
According to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll taken just before Archer's closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committe, 60% of likely voters say Joe Biden has been part of an illegal cover-up to hide his involvement in his son's foreign business deals; 45% think such a cover-up is very likely; 34% say it's not likely Biden has illegally covered up his role in his son's foreign business, including 18% who believe it is not at all likely.
Joe Biden has said he never discussed Hunter's business affairs with him.
Archer's testimony "confirms Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son's business dealings and was not involved," said Comer, the The Wall Street Journal reported.
In the Rasmussen poll, 61% of voters think this is a serious scandal, including 44% who say it's very serious. But 29% don't believe Biden's involvement in Hunter's foreign business is a serious scandal, including 13% who believe it is not at all serious.
Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Biden had done "something we have not seen since Richard Nixon: Use the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight."
Over half — 58% — of voters agree with McCarthy's statement, including 43% who strongly agree; 35% disagree, including 26% who strongly disagree.
Democrats are far less likely than other voters to view the president's purposted involvement in his son's foreign business deals as scandalous. Just 20% of Democrats believe that this is a very serious scandal, compared to 66% of Republicans and 49% of voters not affiliated with either major party.
Similarly, only 18% of Democrats say they strongly agree with McCarthy comparing Biden to Nixon, whereas 69% of Republicans and 46% of unaffiliated voters strongly agree.
While 69% of Republicans and 48% of unaffiliated think it's very likely that the president has been part of an illegal cover-up to hide his involvement in his son's foreign business deals, just 20% of Democrats believe such a cover-up is very likely.
By race, 63% of white people, 56% of Black people, and 62% of other minorities think Biden's reported involvement in his son's foreign business deals is at least a somewhat serious scandal. Fewer black voters (27%) than white (49%) or other minorities (42%) believe it's very likely that the president has been part of an illegal cover-up.
More men (67%) than women voters (57%) say Biden's involvement in Hunter's business deals is at least a somewhat serious scandal.
Older voters are much more likely than those under 40 to deem the Biden scandal very serious, and to strongly agree with McCarthy comparing Biden to Nixon.
Only 30% of self-identified liberal voters think Biden's reported involvement in his son's foreign business deal is at least a somewhat serious scandal, compared to 54% of moderates and 87% of conservatives.
In terms of income categories, voters earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year are most likely to say Biden is facing a very serious scandal.
The survey of 1,027 U.S. likely voters was conducted on July 26-27 and July 30 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus/minus percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
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