Democratic presidential race front-runner Joe Biden said that he would snub a subpoena by the Republican-controlled Senate to testify in the impeachment trial because it would allegedly draw attention away from Donald Trump.
On Friday, Biden said he would defy an order of the US Senate to testify as a witness during the impeachment process that was started after Democrats had accused the US President of pressuring his Ukrainian counterpart to start probe into the activities of Hunter Biden who got at a cushy job at a local oil company while his father served as vice president for Barack Obama.
His statement apparently raised quite a few eyebrows because on Saturday the democratic nomination candidate turned to the social media to mitigate the potential fallout. However, he eventually ended up doubling down on his Friday claim.
“I want to clarify something I said yesterday. In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order,” Biden wrote in a tweet, drawing a line between himself and Trump, who, according to Biden was not so eager to comply with the congressional oversight requests.
I want to clarify something I said yesterday. In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests.
Yet, he went on to outright claim that Republican Senators have no “legal basis” to demand him testify during the impeachment trial.
“That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.”
But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial. That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.
Last week, the House voted largely along party lines to pass two articles of impeachment – “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.” After that, though, the process descended into chaos as
Democrats said the impeachment documents would remain in the House until they are satisfied with how the Republican-majority Senate will handle the trial. Trump, in turn, lambasted his political opponents for “dragging out” the process while still maintaining that “they have zero proof of anything.”
The Senate is still expected to take up the case in early 2020. No witnesses have so far been scheduled to testify during the trial. Yet, Democrats already said they would like to hear from certain Trump’s close aides that did not testify in the House. In turn, Republicans raise a possibility of subpoenaing Biden, his son Hunter and the whistleblower, whose testimony kick started the whole process and who still remains anonymous.
