Joe Biden announced Tuesday he backs the impeachment of President Trump if he fails to cooperate with Congress over claims by an intelligence community whistleblower about the Biden family’s dealings with Ukraine.
“Using its full constitutional authority, Congress, in my view, should demand the information it has a legal right to receive. If a president does not comply with such a request to Congress, if he continues to obstruct Congress and flout the law, Donald Trump will leave the Congress with no choice but to initiate impeachment. That would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. “We know who Donald Trump is, it’s time to let the world know who we are.”
“We have a president who believes there’s no limit to his power,” the former vice president said, repeating that Trump’s conduct was not that of a president and calling for the release of the underlying whistleblower complaint.
Biden, 76, added he could “take the political attacks,” however, he couldn’t “allow a president to get away with shredding the United States Constitution.”
Biden’s call comes as candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and a growing number of congressional Democrats demand an impeachment inquiry based on accusations Trump pressured Ukraine’s leader to dig up dirt on the former vice president’s son and his connection to an oligarch-owned energy company.
Prior to the press conference, Biden’s campaign teased what he would say to gathered members of the media.
“He’s going to make the point that Trump’s latest abuses are on top of all of his prior abuses. He’s going to call on Trump to comply with all of Congress’ outstanding, lawful requests for information — in the Ukraine matter and in the other investigations — and if Trump does not comply, Congress has no choice but to impeach,” a Biden campaign spokesman told the Washington Examiner.
Biden’s comments on Tuesday represent a shift in position for the Democratic front-runner. Over the weekend, he declined to join other White House hopefuls in voicing his support to commence proceedings in the Democratic-controlled House that could end with Trump being forcibly removed from office.
Trump allegedly urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky eight times in July to crack down on corruption in his country, which critics have interpreted to include Hunter Biden’s work with Burisma Holdings, a natural gas firm of which the younger Biden, 49, was a board member between 2014 and 2019.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, has been pushing Ukraine to investigate Biden for threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees during a 2016 trip to Kiev if Ukraine didn’t fire its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin. The former New York City mayor says he’s concerned about a potential conflict of interest given that Shokin, who himself was shrouded in a corruption-related controversy, was probing Burisma at the time. Vitaliy Kasko, who was Shokin’s deputy, however, said the Burisma probe was “dormant” during Biden’s visit.
The telephone conversation between Trump and Zelensky is believed to be a subject of several congressional inquiries. Over the weekend, Biden implored the White House to make public the transcript of their discussion. Trump has promised to do so on Thursday.
