WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Hunter Biden's former business partner insisted in testimony to Congress Monday that President Joe Biden was not directly involved in their financial dealings, though Hunter would put his father on speakerphone to clients and business associates.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee conducted its interview with Devon Archer as part of its expanding congressional inquiry into the Biden family businesses.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers inside the closed-door interview said Archer testified that over the span of 10 years, Hunter Biden put his father on the phone around 20 times while in the company of associates but “never once spoke about any business dealings.”

New York Rep. Dan Goldman, who was representing Democrats inside the room, told reporters after the interview that Archer testified that Hunter sold the “illusion of access” to his father.

But Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican member of the Oversight Committee, came out of the interview saying that testimony implicated the president directly. “I think we should do an impeachment inquiry,” the Arizona lawmaker told reporters.

Archer, who served with Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma, has long been seen by Republicans as a key witness in their search to directly connect the president to his son’s international business transactions.

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