The White House is stepping up plans to urge Republicans in a Senate impeachment trial to call both Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden to testify, as well as the anonymous White House whistleblower, who started the scandal with a report complaining about a phone call between President Trump and the president of Ukraine, according to sources.
While there is some debate inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on the proposal, Trump insiders are leaning toward calling for the testimony of the trio plus House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who stirred anger when his final report issued this week showed he had received telephone information detailing calls to the White House.
The move would be high stakes, but some in the administration feel that they’ve got nothing to lose. What’s more, if the GOP could get the Bidens to testify, some feel it would be embarrassing for the Democrat and distract him from his early primary and caucus contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Joe Biden, however, said he won’t testify.
“No, I’m not going to let them take their eye off the ball,” Biden said. “The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes, and I’m not going to let him divert from that,” he added.
Democrats have also balked at having Hunter Biden and the whistleblower testify in a Senate trial that could last two weeks to six weeks.
Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian natural gas firm, when his father was vice president. The former vice president wanted a prosecutor investigating the firm fired, though he claims he was concerned with corruption and not protecting his son.
Trump is not expected to testify.
Others could, however, including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. “We have nothing to hide,” said a senior White House official, who explained that they refused to testify in the House because they had questions about the “process.”
A fight over who will testify could end up being the highlight of a Senate trial that is expected to vote against conviction if Democrats follow through on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call today for the process to push for an impeachment vote.
