Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) has already picked up quite the reputation for saying anything to support the Democratic narrative on issues, regardless of what the facts might be. But he reached new levels in his mischaracterization of the testimony of Devon Archer.
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:
And, in fact, the only evidence we have is to the contrary, which is that even though it was perceived by Burisma that they had the prosecutor Shokin under control, quote/unquote, that Joe Biden advocated for his firing, which of course was not coveted or desired by Burisma and would potentially be bad for Burisma.
Then Goldman claimed that it was an “illusion of access” to Joe Biden that was being sold, that Joe Biden never discussed any business. But as we reported, then the transcript came out and blew that away. That term was Goldman’s term. In fact, Archer said there was a selling of the Biden brand and that if they had not had that, Burisma might have gone under. He also detailed phone calls and dinners showing that the “access” was anything but illusory.
Yet even with the transcript now out and Archer detailing everything to Tucker Carlson in a two-part interview that you can see here and here, Goldman tried to take another whack at spinning the story this week. But he’s getting busted on it, big time. Listen as he tries to spin that the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was somehow 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 declared that the “only “official action” that Joe Biden took “related to Hunter Biden’s business interests was detrimental to Hunter Biden’s company business interest.” He claimed Devon Archer said it was detrimental to Burisma. He said he was quoting Archer, that Archer said that Burisma had Shokin “under control” and it was a “good thing” to have that prosecutor in office. But Joe Biden urged his firing. “That’s the only connection with any of Hunter’s business dealings.”
But that isn’t what Archer said. The transcript clearly shows that Archer said that was the “narrative” that was being “spun” by the people in “D.C.”
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
Hmm, who would be feeding such a narrative from D.C.? Let’s ponder that question and why they would be feeding that narrative. Archer specifically said he could not “verify that.”
Indeed, Archer spoke to this further during his interview with Tucker Carlson, where he said very clearly that Shokin was a “threat,” and he pointed out how he seized the assets of the Burisma co-founder Mykola Zlochevsky and that Zlochevsky never went back to Ukraine after that. That the stuff about it being “bad” for Burisma was a “narrative.”
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 were good for Burisma, they wouldn’t have been hiring Hunter and Blue Star, trying to make the problems and the investigations go away.
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
