Devon Archer, who worked with Hunter Biden for the Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm prior to both men joining the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma in 2014, was convicted in 2018 in connection with a fraudulent bond scheme aimed at swindling a Native American tribe, and he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison in February 2022.Archer, who was also ordered by a Manhattan federal judge last year to forfeit more than $15.7 million and to join his co-defendants in paying $43.
Archer’s lawyer Schwartz tried to argue Tuesday that Abrams had “misapprehended her role” as a judge when she held Archer responsible for the effects of the fraud, including producing massive losses and harming victims. Sullivan replied that “it’s not clear to me” that the district judge had misused her role “at all.
Nardini asked if Schwartz had brought this problem up in any of his briefs to the court, and Archer’s lawyer said he had not. Rothschild said that “the government is looking into the facts” raised by Schwartz and pointed out the judge had sentenced Archer to something significantly lower than she could have.
Rothschild defended the warrant, saying the wording"was clearly geared” toward the specific fraud scheme and said the government didn’t try to use the warrant to pursue other crimes. Republicans have long contended Hunter Biden's lucrative business dealings in Ukraine and China indicate he may have committed crimes related to foreign lobbying or money laundering, although multiple recent reports have indicated U.S. Attorney David Weiss, a Trump-appointed holdover and the Delaware prosecutor overseeing the case, may have narrowed his focus to Hunter Biden potentially committing tax fraud and lying on a federal gun form when purchasing a revolver.