WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned a former business partner of Hunter Biden who was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to defraud a Native American tribe.

Devon Archer later became a key figure in the congressional inquiry into the Biden family businesses, telling lawmakers behind closed doors that the younger Biden sold the “illusion of access” to his father.

Before signing the pardon, Trump said Archer was treated “very unfairly.” White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the “tone and tenor” of the prosecution changed after Archer began to cooperate with congressional investigators in the Biden family inquiry.

Archer was convicted in 2018 in a scheme to defraud the tribe that involved the sale of bonds. His conviction was overturned later that year before the court of appeals in New York reinstated it in 2020. He was sentenced in 2022 to a year in prison.

Archer has denied any wrongdoing and called himself a “victim of financial fraud.” In a Fox News appearance Monday, Archer said of the potential pardon: “I didn’t think I’d need this because I never did anything.”

Archer testified before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee in 2023 as GOP lawmakers tried to make the case for impeachment proceedings against President Biden. Archer told the committee that President Biden was never directly involved in their financial dealings, though Hunter would often put his father on speakerphone to impress clients and business associates.

Archer’s testimony portrayed the president’s son as capitalizing on his father’s name, but not necessarily promising or delivering any influence that would rise to a questionable level or approach wrongdoing. At one point, Archer was asked point blank: “Are you aware of any wrongdoing by Vice President Biden?”

He responded, “No, I’m not aware of any.”

Hunter Biden was convicted last year in two separate cases on federal gun and tax charges. President Biden pardoned his son shortly before he left office, reversing his previous promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family.

Oscar winner released: Only a few weeks ago, Hamdan Ballal stood on a stage in Los Angeles accepting an Oscar for the film “No Other Land,” a documentary depicting his West Bank village’s struggle against Israel’s occupation.

On Tuesday, Ballal – his face bruised and clothes still spotted with blood – recounted how he was heavily beaten by an Israeli settler and soldiers the night before. The settler, he said, kicked his head “like a football” during a settler attack on his village.

The soldiers detained him and two other Palestinians. Ballal said he was kept blindfolded for more than 20 hours, sitting on the floor under a blasting air conditioner. The soldiers kicked, punched or hit him with a stick whenever they came on their guard shifts, he said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the claims that Ballal was beaten. The settler whom Ballal identified as his attacker, Shem Tov Luski — who has threatened Ballal in the past — denied he or the soldiers beat him and said Ballal and other Palestinians in the village had thrown stones at his car. Ballal denied throwing stones.

Luski said he didn’t know Ballal was an Oscar winner.