Schumer: Hunter Biden Testifying Would Make Impeachment Trial a 'Circus'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claims Joe Biden's son would be 'a distraction'
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has blasted calls for Hunter Biden to testify as a witness at a future Senate impeachment trial, claiming it would turn the proceedings into a "circus."
Sen. Schumer (D-NY) suggested he believes former Vice President Joe Biden’s son would be a “distraction” during the process against President Trump.
Multiple Republicans have signaled their intent to call upon Hunter Biden to testify, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, according to News Thud.
“It’s a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their international disputes when he could not resolve his own disputes with Hertz rental car over leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car,” Gaetz said during a House hearing last week.
Appearing on CNN, Schumer pushed back against the notion that Hunter Biden should testify.
The New York Democrat told “New Day” host John Berman that testimony from "Hunter Biden doesn’t add to" the president "having a fair trial."
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“No one, not a single person I’ve heard, even those who want Hunter Biden, have even alleged that he has knowledge of the fact case the House is presenting," Schumer insisted.
"This shouldn’t be for Democrats to bring in their favorite conspiracy theories and for Republicans to bring in theirs…
"This is an august and solemn proceeding."
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on his request for witnesses in impeachment trial: "We want a trial to be fair for the American people... not to be something where there are witnesses who have direct knowledge as to what happened and do not testify" https://t.co/jitjmKhQSF pic.twitter.com/XXPKMZgu0D
— New Day (@NewDay) December 16, 2019
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday, Schumer called for subpoenas to be issued to secure testimony from acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, his senior adviser Robert Blair, former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton, and Michael Duffey, associate director for national security in the White House budget office, according to the Washington Times.
The House had asked for the testimony of those four individuals in its impeachment inquiry, but they did not appear.
“I’m not going to negotiate here in public, but the bottom line is I haven’t seen a scintilla of evidence that Hunter Biden would add anything other than show, circus, distraction,” Schumer said.
“If President Trump is so certain that he did nothing wrong, what is he afraid of?”
Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, is at the center of the House’s impeachment inquiry, having held a lucrative seat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma Holdings.
House Democrats have accused Trump of improperly withholding military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the country’s announcing investigations, including into the Bidens’ business dealings in the country.
Democrats have yet to provide any evidence to support the allegation of a quid pro quo other than hearsay claims from second-hand "witnesses."
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The House is preparing to vote on two articles of impeachment this week, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Schumer had opposed hearing from new witnesses during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, but he said things were different then.
“The Republicans could not negotiate a fair bunch of witnesses with the Democrats,” he said.
“It wasn’t a bipartisan negotiation. It should be now.”
Sen. McConnell’s office said that he still plans to sit down with Schumer to hammer out the contours of a potential trial.
