At least five House Republicans are urging their colleagues to come back to Washington, D.C., to hold an emergency hearing following allegations the Department of Justice ‘interfered’ with Hunter Biden‘s business partner Devon Archer’s testimony.

The Department of Justice sent an ‘odd’ letter over the weekend on July 29 to a New York judge calling for Archer’s sentencing for an unrelated fraud conviction to be expedited just days before his highly anticipated testimony. Hours later, DOJ issued a new letter attempting to clarify they never intended to see Archer locked up before he testifies behind closed doors Monday on the Biden’s business schemes.

Archer, a friend and business partner of Hunter Biden, is expected to give his bombshell account of the Biden family business dealings for four to five hours behind closed doors, and finally unmask Joe as the ‘Big Guy.’

Republicans say the last minute move by DOJ was an attempt to ‘intimidate’ Archer, who they view as being central to providing information that is critical to their ongoing investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings. 

Now, at least five GOP lawmakers are pushing for an ’emergency’ hearing on DOJ’s conduct. 

‘Two members of the House Judiciary Committee are now calling for lawmakers to return to Washington for immediate emergency hearings on the DOJ’s interference with Congressional Oversight,’ Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., tweeted on Sunday. 

‘This is all because Hunter’s problems and Joe’s problems merge with the testimony of Devin Archer. Time for Action. Right now,’ Gaetz continued.

‘I will join you back on the Hill,’ tweeted Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La.

Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., and Dan Bishop, R-N.C., pledged to join Johnson and Gaetz. 

Bishop tweeted: ‘I think you need five. Count me in. Subpoenas should fly tomorrow.’ 

Gaetz went farther, saying DOJ ‘is now actively committing the crime of obstructing a congressional investigation.’

He said heads will roll if Archer isn’t in the ‘witness chair’ on Monday. 

‘I’ll come back to Washington tomorrow to do this,’ he continued. 

The House of Representatives is out on August recess and won’t return to conduct official business in D.C. until mid-September.  

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on his Verdict podcast that DOJ has engaged in ‘witness intimidation.’ 

‘This can only be understood as an attempt by the Biden DOJ to intimidate, to threaten Devon Archer, to tell him, ‘Shut up.’

‘We have the prosecutors and if you talk the consequences will be severe. This is on its face, I believe witness intimidation,’ continued Cruz.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer said Sunday that the Justice Department was acting unusually.

He accused the DOJ of using its July 29 letter to Abrams as an attempt to ‘intimidate’ the witness he says is key to getting to the bottom of the president’s son’s shady overseas business deals. 

Comer said on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures: ‘It’s odd that it’s right before he’s scheduled to come in to have an opportunity to speak in front of the House Oversight Committee and tell the American people the truth about what really went on with Burisma.’ 

Hours later, the Justice Department issued a new letter saying they never intended to see Archer locked up before he testified to Congress. 

The letter read: ‘For the avoidance of all doubt, the Government requests that any surrender date, should the Court order one, be scheduled to occur after the defendant’s Congressional testimony is completed.’ 

A source close to Archer confirmed reports that he is set to testify about meetings he attended with his and Hunter’s foreign business partners, where the First Son allegedly had Joe Biden on speakerphone. 

DailyMail.com reported exclusively this week that Archer is ‘in hiding’ after receiving ‘threats’ leading up to his bombshell testimony. 

The House Oversight Committee will ask Archer about ‘whether foreign actors targeted the Bidens and if the president was involved in his family’s business dealings.’ 

Archer’s expected testimony Monday comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated this week that he is mulling opening an impeachment inquiry into President Biden for his ‘lies’ about his involvement in Hunter’s dealings.

Archer, 48, was subpoenaed on June 12 by the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Hunter’s businesses and whether he and other members of the Biden family improperly traded on their connections.

It is unclear the motivation behind Archer’s decision to testify on Monday. He previously cancelled on the committee at least three times in recent weeks. 

Chairman Comer told Fox News’ Larry Kudlow that Archer is appearing before his committee now because after he was subpoenaed, he ‘doesn’t have a whole lot of options.’

He said Republicans planned to hold him in contempt if he did not comply with the subpoena, which doesn’t ‘look good on your resume.’

‘At the end of the day, I think that Archer wants to do the right thing,’ he said. ‘I think he wants to set the record straight and he is going to have an opportunity to do that.’

A close associate of Archer told the New York Post he is testifying about his time working with Hunter because he believes it is his ‘civic duty.’ 

It comes as Archer is also facing legal troubles of his own and is expected to go to prison shortly.

He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison in February 2022 for defrauding a Native American tribal entity and various investment advisory clients of tens of millions of dollars, in connection with the issuance of $60 million in bonds. 

He is on the hook with his co-conspirators for $43.4 million in restitution over the fraud.

Archer’s lawyer confirmed his upcoming meeting with Congress, adding that Archer had previously testified to a federal grand jury about his dealings with the Biden family – likely referring to Delaware prosecutor David Weiss’ criminal investigation into the First Son.

‘Devon Archer believes strongly in the rule of law and the democratic system, and is prepared to answer the Committee’s questions just as he has already answered similar questions from a federal grand jury, the Department of Justice, and several other government agencies in their investigations concerning the Biden family,’ said attorney Matthew Schwartz of Boies Schiller Flexner.

‘There have been many leaks and much speculation about Mr. Archer’s potential statement to the Oversight Committee, but next week, Mr. Archer will get to speak for himself.’

The White House has maintained the president was never ‘in business’ with his son, but the GOP have ramped up their investigation with testimonies from whistleblowers and a slew of other evidence. 

Archer, 48, and Hunter both graduated from Yale and were friends for decades. Hunter has reportedly described Devon as his ‘best friend in business.’

Together they formed Rosemont Seneca Partners back in 2009, along with Christopher Heinz, the son-in-law of former Sen. John Kerry, kicking off a period of international business deals and jet-setting. 

Archer and Hunter Biden each landed lucrative seats on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, despite Hunter not having particular expertise in the field. The firm brought in a reported $11 million through the arrangement, based on information gleaned from Hunter’s infamous laptop.

They were photographed golfing with then-Vice President Biden back in 2014.

Hunter’s ex-business partner is planning to testify to the committee that Hunter used this speakerphone call tactic at least two dozen times, according to a New York Post report published Monday.

One alleged example is after a Burisma board meeting in Dubai on December 4, 2015.

Devon allegedly claims Hunter was with him, Burisma owner Nikolai Zlochevsky, and executive Vadym Pozharskyi at the bar of the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach.

Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi allegedly asked Hunter: ‘Can you ring your dad?’

According to the Post report, Hunter called Joe, introduced ‘Nikolai and Vadym’, and told his father they ‘need our support’.

Three days later Joe flew to address the Ukrainian parliament on the ‘poison of cronyism, corruption, and kleptocracy.’

At the time, Zlochevsky was under criminal investigation in Ukraine, and had his assets seized. But in March 2016, after Joe Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired.

The Justice Department on Wednesday sued the son of West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice, with a filing that said his 13 mining companies under his control ‘violated their legal obligations’ by failing to pay penalties and fines.

The civil legal action comes as Justice’s father mounts a Senate campaign against West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, one of the most influential members of the chamber who provided critical support to President Joe Biden‘s Inflation Reduction Act.

The elder Justice has been reported to be the richest person in West Virginia.

According to the 128 page filing, Justice’s mining companies ‘failed to pay uncontested penalties assessed for their uncontested violations,’ after having been cited with more than 130 violations totaling $5 million in civil penalties by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement at the U.S. Interior Department.

DOJ made the filing in U.S. District Court in the western district of Virginia. 

The suit comes at a delicate time. Gov. Justice leads Manchin by 22-points, 54 to 32 per cent, in a new poll for the West Virginia Senate race, according to a East Carolina University Center for Survey Research poll released just Tuesday.

‘Our environmental laws serve to protect communities against adverse effects of industrial activities including surface coal mining operations,’ said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in a statement. ‘Through this suit, the Justice Department seeks to deliver accountability for defendants’ repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations.’ 

Manchin was already considered vulnerable simply by seeking reelection as a Democrat in a Republican-dominated state.

He is banking on his reputation for independence, after crossing the Biden administration on key regulatory initiatives and engaging in protracted negotiations but ultimately backing his Inflation Reduction Act.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a statement saying the lawsuit by Biden’s DOJ is an ‘abuse of power.’

‘Joe Biden’s Department of Justice has gone totally rogue. Democrats weaponizing the federal government to attack the family of a Republican Senate candidate is a complete abuse of power,’ said spokesman Tate Mitchell Wednesday.

DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any political sensitivities. 

The bipartisan budget deal heading to a House vote Wednesday includes permitting changes long pushed by Manchin. A provision that would require approval of the 300-mile long Mountain Valley Pipeline that would cross part of his state has infuriated environmentalists and some Democratic lawmakers who asked why it ended up in a must-pass budget compromise to reduce spending and extend the debt ceiling. 

Gov. Justice and his son have worked together to manage a sprawling empire.

In 2009, Justice reportedly made a fortune when he sold Bluestone Resources, a collection of mines, to a Russian firm, then had to buy it back later amid claims of mismanagement while under Russian control.

The father and son said in a lawsuit they had the objective of ‘returning Bluestone to profitability,’ Forbes reported.

The 13 Justice-owned or controlled companies are incorporated in Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware.

The suit doesn’t make any mention of the elder Justice’s political role, describing James C. Justice III ‘an individual residing in or around Roanoke, Virginia.’ 

Some of the Justice fines outlined in the suit relate to statements of coal produced per quarter.

The government cited Premium Coal, National Coal, and S+H Mining with more than 100 violations between 2018 and 2022. They included ‘failure to maintain the face of a dam,’ ‘failure to ensure the seismic stability of a dam’ and ‘causing the slope instability by improperly placing spoil against a downslope windrow and exposing timber in the backfill soil.’

It says a series of companies failed to contest fines that the government imposed, and didn’t comply with ‘cessation orders.’ 

Other regulatory failures listed in the suit appear to be measures meant to lessen the environmental impact of coal mining on rivers and streams. They include ‘failure to maintain sediment control measures,’ ‘failure to remove excess sediment from basins,’ ‘unlawful discharges,’ and ‘failure to properly dispose of non-coal waste.’ 

Regulations require operators to submit statements stating how much coal produced in a mining operation, with a reclamation fee imposed on each ton of coal that is produced. The fee is 22.4 centers per don or 10 per cent of the value, whichever is less.