Then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with Hunter Biden and a Russian oligarch at a cafe in Washington, D.C., in spring 2014, longtime Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer testified Monday.
Archer spoke with the House Oversight Committee about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and Joe Biden’s alleged contact with his son’s associates, which occurred “more than 20 times,” according to Archer. He told the committee Joe Biden “attended a business dinner” at Washington, D.C.’s, Café Milano in spring 2014 with his son and associates, according to a statement from Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee.
One of those associates included Elena Baturina, a Russian oligarch reportedly worth $1.3 billion who was married to the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, Comer’s statement continued.
7) In spring of 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden attended a business dinner with his son, Hunter, and his associates at Café Milano in DC. Elena Baturina, a Russian oligarch who is the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, attended the dinner.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 31, 2023
A Senate report released in 2020 alleged Baturina wired Hunter Biden’s consulting firm Rosemont Seneca $3.5 million in 2014 as part of a consulting agreement. The next year, Baturina allegedly sent 11 wires worth $391,968.21 to BAK USA LLC, and nine of those transactions worth $241, 797.14 were sent to BAK USA through Rosemont Seneca accounts, according to the report. (RELATED: DOJ Says It Won’t Obstruct Devon Archer’s Testimony)
“These transactions were identified because of Baturina’s reported criminal activity,” the report reads.
BAK USA was a computer technology startup based in Buffalo, New York. The company filed for bankruptcy in March 2019 with a reported $39 million in losses, according to the report.
Emails released in October 2020 showed Hunter Biden worked with Devon Archer and another business associate to open U.S. bank accounts for Baturina.
“Establish US banking relationship was the goal she gave me,” Archer said to another business associate in January 2014, speaking about Baturina. The emails also show Archer discussing a JPMorgan brokerage account for Baturina, opened after they dealt with the bank’s anti-money laundering department.
A separate court filing in 2020 accused Archer of working with Biden to facilitate money laundering by Baturina through the financial system.
When her husband was mayor of Moscow, Baturina had over 20 real estate projects approved for her construction company, generating billions in Rubles for her family, according to the report. Baturina’s plastics company, Inteko, also allegedly received contracts from Moscow when her husband was mayor.
Comer told Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Cruz’s podcast earlier in July that the committee has received bank records from Russia.
Baturina is not on the Biden administration’s list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the U.S. government. A reporter asked Joe Biden in June 2022 about why Baturina was not sanctioned, and he did not answer the question.