Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY, has earned a reputation as a man who will say anything to support Democrat narratives on any issue. He reached new heights in his mischaracterizations of Devon Archer’s testimony.
As we reported at the time, he was the first out the door after Archer spoke to the House Oversight Committee, trying to put a spin on what Archer had said behind closed doors. This is what he claimed that Archer said behind closed doors:
Joe Biden, who was opposed to Burisma’s desire for him, advocated his dismissal. This was something that Burisma did not want and could be detrimental to them.
Goldman then claimed that the “illusion” of access to Joe Biden was being sold and that Joe Biden had never discussed business. As we reported, the transcript blew this away. This was Goldman using that term. Archer stated that there was a sale of the Biden Brand and Burisma would have failed if it had not been for that. He detailed the phone calls and dinners that showed “access” wasn’t illusory.
Goldman has tried to spin the story again this week, despite the fact that the transcript is now available and Archer detailed everything in a two-part interview with Tucker Carlson. You can view the interviews here and here. He’s being busted, and it’s a big deal. Listen to him try to spin the story that firing the Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin is bad for Burisma.
.@RepDanGoldman egregiously mischaracterized Devon Archer’s testimony.
Goldman told CNN that Joe Biden’s successful pressure on Ukraine to fire prosector Viktor Shokin “was detrimental to Hunter Biden’s company business interest” with Burisma. According to Goldman, Archer… pic.twitter.com/lcICkWgG5t
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) August 17, 2023
Goldman stated that “the only “official action” Joe Biden took in relation to Hunter Biden’s business interests was detrimental for Hunter Biden’s company’s business interest.” Devon Archer, he claimed, said that it was detrimental to Burisma. He claimed he was quoting Archer who said Burisma has Shokin “under controlled” and that it is a “good” thing to have this prosecutor. Joe Biden, however, urged the firing of his prosecutor. Hunter has no other business dealings.
But that’s not what Archer said. The transcript shows Archer saying that the “narrative,” which was “spun” in “D.C.” was what the people were “doing” at the time.
What is striking is that Goldman, on CNN, went out of his way to quote Archer saying that Burisma had Shokin “under control.” But in the actual testimony, Archer told Goldman directly that this was merely a “narrative” that “was spun to me”, which he had not verified. Goldman… pic.twitter.com/M7J9cUQ9tu
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) August 17, 2023
Who would feed such a story from Washington, D.C. We should ponder this question and ask ourselves why someone would feed such a narrative. Archer said that he couldn’t “verify” the story.
Archer addressed this in his interview with Tucker Carlson. He said that Shokin was “a threat” and that he had seized the assets belonging to the Burisma founder Mykola Zlochevsky. Zlochevsky has never returned to Ukraine since then. The “narrative” about the “badness” of Burisma.
Even in his interview with Tucker, Devon Archer says multiple times the idea Shokin was under Burisma’s control was only a “narrative,” meaning he knew they were being fed a bunch of BS. https://t.co/KhewpbwfkL pic.twitter.com/g9YrZLlxm3
— Unauthorized Narrative (@mgEyesOpen) August 17, 2023
If Shokin was good for Burisma they would not have hired Hunter and Blue Star to try and make the problems go away and the investigations disappear.
Goldman just completely mischaracterized what Archer said, and Tapper sat there looking grave but not pointing out the truth or holding him to account. And that last part of Goldman’s hot take was perhaps the worst spin of all, that the firing was the “only connection with any of Hunter’s business dealings.” If you forget the flights on Air Force 2, the pictures taken with Joe Biden and the business associates, the phone calls, the dinners, Tony Bobulinski, and perhaps most of all, the commingling of money with Hunter. The fact that Goldman threw that out there shows he has no shame at all.
The reason @RepDanGoldman is the new hero of American liberals isn’t just that he’s the heir to the billionaire Levi-Strauss fortune (they worship those with unearned wealth), nor that he was on the Mueller team, but that he’s as willing as Adam Schiff to blatantly lie. Look:👇 https://t.co/ePcLi4aj2M
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) August 17, 2023
All those pairs of Levi’s jeans you bought over the years? They came with family heir Dan Goldman’s political career as a bonus. https://t.co/L2Z0QYCzSv
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) August 17, 2023