I’ll obey subpoena for Trump impeachment, says Biden
JOE BIDEN, the US presidential candidate, has indicated he would comply with a subpoena demanding his testimony in Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.
Mr Biden, the former vice-president seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 election, told the audience at a town hall event in Iowa: “I would obey any subpoena sent to me.”
Just a day before, he had said he would reject any such demand.
“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,” Mr Biden told the Des Moines Register on Friday.
Mr Biden’s original position risked a backlash, given it was Mr Trump’s refusal to comply with Congressional subpoenas – legally binding demands for evidence or documents – that fuelled the impeachment drive.
The changing position reflects the difficulty Mr Biden faces over impeachment. It was Mr Trump seeking an investigation from Ukraine into him and his son Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian company, that triggered the impeachment inquiry.
Mr Biden sees it as an attempt by the White House to harm his candidacy and distract from Mr Trump’s actions in office.
The US president has been impeached by the House of Representatives, one half of the US Congress.
The Senate, the other half, is expected to hold a trial in January over whether to remove him from office.
Given that the Republicans hold a majority of seats in the Senate they can decide which witnesses are called, if no senators rebel.
Mr Biden tweeted: “In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and … as VP, my office – unlike Donald Trump and [vice-president] Mike Pence – cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests.
“But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial.”
He added: “This impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.”