Two key Republican senators said it was too early to decide whether Hunter Biden should have to deliver testimony in the Senate impeachment trial.
Sens. Susan Collins from Maine and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska told reporters on Wednesday that they would leave the door open as to which witnesses should participate in the impeachment trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had planned to expedite the trial by refusing to hear from additional witnesses, but some Republican members have signaled that they would like to hear from more witnesses.
Collins, 67, has been recruiting other Republicans who would like to hear from witnesses who did not speak during the House process, including former national security adviser John Bolton, who signaled he would be willing to testify before the Senate were he subpoenaed.
Other Republican senators countered Collins’s request for more witnesses by suggesting that Hunter Biden, 49, testify about his experience working on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma. Hunter Biden received a high-paying position while his father, Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden, was leading diplomatic efforts in the region as vice president. President Trump asked Ukrainian leaders to investigate the Bidens in the July 25 phone call that became the foundation for his impeachment.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, demanded “witness reciprocity” and argued that a member of the Biden family should be called for any individuals called by Democrats. Murkowski and Collins told reporters that they wouldn’t eliminate any witnesses at this point.
“There will be this time in the process where we will have an opportunity to make a determination as to what further information we need. Whether it is for Hunter Biden or Ambassador Bolton,” Murkowski explained. “Until that point in time, I’m not thinking about each individual witness and who I’m putting in a bucket.”
“It’s clearly not the right time for us to judge which specific witnesses should be called,” Collins added.
Many saw Hunter Biden as unqualified for his high-paying job at Burisma, given his detailed history of drug abuse and his lack of experience in the energy sector. During the House impeachment, Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, argued that Trump’s suspicion of the Bidens’ actions in Ukraine was justified.
“I don’t want to make light of anybody’s substance-abuse issues. I know the president’s working real hard to solve those throughout the country. But it’s a little hard to believe that Burisma hired Hunter Biden to resolve their international disputes when he could not resolve his own dispute with Hertz rental car over leaving cocaine and a crack pipe in the car,” Gaetz said.
