Joe Biden Says He'll Refuse to Comply With Senate Impeachment Trial Subpoena
Former Vice President doubles down
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Presidential hopeful Joe Biden declared he would not comply if a subpoena is issued by the Senate to testify in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
The former Vice President reiterated his intentions to the Des Moines Register’s editorial board on Friday after being questioned about a similar claim he made to NPR in earlier this month.
“Do you stand by your earlier statements that you wouldn’t comply if you were subpoenaed to testify in an impeachment trial before the Senate,” asked one board member.
“Correct, and the reason I wouldn’t is because it’s all designed to deal with Trump doing what he’s done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him,” Biden said.
Biden insisted that if he testified, it would be “a diversion” from Trump.
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“Doesn’t that position you as if you’re defying a subpoena, putting yourself above the law?” asked the Register.
“Well, look, the grounds for them to call me would be overwhelmingly specious, so I don’t anticipate that happening anyway,” Biden replied.
“But what it would do if I voluntarily just said let me go and make my case. What are you going to cover?" he asked.
"You guys are going to cover for three weeks anything that I said. And he’s going to getaway. You guys buy into it all the time. Not a joke … Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t testify if you thought I should, but think what it’s about," he added.
"It’s all about what he does all the time, his entire career. Take the focus off," Biden argued.
President Donald Trump has shared a video report that implies Democratic House Speaker #NancyPelosi's son, #PaulPelosi Jr., is involved in Hunter Biden-style corruption in #Ukraine.
— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) December 28, 2019
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"This guy violated the Constitution," Biden declared.
"He said it in the driveway of the White House. He acknowledged he asked for help.”
Despite the House Democrats passing two articles of impeachment against Trump over his contacts with Ukraine, including 'abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,' they are still yet to be sent over to the Republican-led Senate for trial.
When or if they do, Republicans have said there is a possibility of interviewing witnesses previously denied by House Democratic leadership, such as Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
Last week, one of the Democrats’ top impeachment witnesses claimed the party had not impeached the president, despite their vote on Wednesday.
Noah Feldman argued that “according to the Constitution, impeachment is a process, not a vote."
He then noted that, although moderate delay would not pose a problem, a lengthy delay would be a “serious problem.”
