Devon Archer used his knowledge of Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings to win favor with Republicans and lobby for a pardon.
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In 2018, Devon Archer was found guilty of charges related to security fraud.
Weeks before the 2020 election, Devon Archer was on the verge of speaking out publicly against Biden after years of silence.
He had previously unreported phone calls with a well-connected ally of President Trump. The ally suggested that the Trump administration might drop fraud charges against Mr. Archer if he spoke out before the election about his longtime business partner. Hunter Biden, the son of Joseph R. Biden Jr., said, according to three people familiar with the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal the contents of private conversations:
Unsure whether the offer was substantial, Mr. Archer remained silent. He told acquaintances that he hoped for a pardon if the elder Mr. Biden became president.
But after Mr. Biden took office, Mr. Archer's family largely stopped communicating with him, according to three Biden associates who were not authorized to discuss the relationship publicly.
In the months and years that followed, as Mr. Archer maintained his innocence and his case wound its way through the courts, he began quietly cultivating ties with Mr. Trump and his allies. He cooperated with investigators looking into the millions of dollars Hunter Biden received from foreign companies and how those deals intersected with his father’s work as vice president. He provided information to prosecutors, journalists and Republican congressional investigators.
On Tuesday afternoon, that journey from Biden insider to Trump loyalist was complete. Mr. Trump applied the ragged strokes of his signature marker to a full and unconditional pardon for Mr. Archer, erasing his conviction for a scheme to defraud investors and Native American tribal education out of tens of millions of dollars.
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