The Justice Department is urging Devon Archer, the former business partner of Hunter Biden, to report to prison ahead of his scheduled congressional testimony. Manhattan federal prosecutors filed a letter on Saturday requesting a judge to set a date for Archer to begin his one-year prison sentence in a fraud case unrelated to Hunter Biden's scandals. This request comes after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Archer's 2018 conviction on two felony charges related to a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe.

Archer, who is set to testify in a closed-door session with the House Oversight Committee on Monday regarding Hunter Biden, had been challenging his conviction. However, his attorney, Matthew Schwartz, stated that Archer would still testify as planned despite allegations that the Justice Department's request was an intimidation tactic. Schwartz emphasized that Archer disagreed with speculation that the request was an attempt by the Biden administration to intimidate him.

Schwartz argued that it was premature to set a jail date while Archer considers potential appeal options. Archer, Hunter Biden, and Christopher Heinz co-founded the investment and advisory firm Rosemont Seneca Partners in 2009, which Hunter Biden used for his overseas business ventures. Archer is expected to testify that Hunter Biden would involve his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, in various meetings with overseas partners, a significant development in the GOP-led inquiries into the Biden family's business dealings.

This testimony potentially links President Biden to his son's business affairs, contradicting his previous statement that he never discussed his son's overseas business dealings. The White House has now changed its stance, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating that the president "was never in business with his son," signaling a shift in their verbiage. The Biden administration has consistently defended the president, asserting that he has not been directly implicated in any wrongdoing related to his family's business activities.

Despite ongoing Republican scrutiny of the Biden family's business dealings, the administration has sought to downplay any direct involvement of the president. White House spokesperson Ian Sams recently tweeted a statement from a GOP colleague on the Oversight Committee, acknowledging that President Biden has not been implicated or proven guilty of any wrongdoing. The upcoming testimony from Devon Archer is expected to provide further insight into the Biden family's business connections and their potential implications for the president.