Hunter Biden ‘Relevant Witness’ Says Dem Senator As Joe Begs For Backup

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said on Wednesday that Hunter Biden would be a “relevant witness” in President Trump’s impeachment trial over withholding aid to Ukraine while pushing for an investigation into allegations of Biden corruption.

“I think so — I really do,” Manchin told MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe,” adding “I don’t have a problem there because this is why we are where we are.“

“Now, I think that he [can] clear himself — what I know and what I’ve heard … But being afraid to put anybody that might have pertinent is wrong, no matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican.”

Sen. Manchin (D): Hunter Biden is a relevant witness.

“This is why we are where we are”

pic.twitter.com/Uc4vlLDHRD

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 29, 2020

Manchin expounded after his appearance:

Sen. Joe Manchin: “The whole process is hypocrisy… They’ve all reversed themselves, Schumer and McConnell both.” pic.twitter.com/pP8ks3Ktd0

— The Hill (@thehill) January 29, 2020

During this week’s impeachment arguments, President Trump’s defense walked the Senate through Hunter Biden’s ‘nepotistic at best, nefarious at worst’ board seat at Ukrainian gas giant Burisma. Joe Biden, meanwhile, bragged in 2018 about withholding $1 billion in US loans to Ukraine if they didn’t fire their top prosecutor who had been investigating Burisma.

“All we are saying is that there was a basis to talk about this, to raise this issue, and that is enough,” said Bondi, who noted that Hunter Biden was paid over $83,000 per month to sit on Burisma’s board even though he had zero experience in natural gas or Ukrainian relations while his father was Vice President and in charge of Ukraine policy for the United States.

Pam Bondi explains the Bidens’ connection to the corrupt Ukrainian gas company Burisma https://t.co/SpmArCYbb7 pic.twitter.com/aKNqQKo8cl

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 27, 2020

Other top Democrats have categorically ruled out testimony from the Bidens, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claiming that Hunter wouldn’t be able to offer relevant testimony about Trump’s interactions with Ukraine, and that his appearance would be a distraction.

Republicans have threatened to subpoena Hunter, 49, if Democrats succeed in securing testimony from former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, who claims in a leaked manuscript of his book that President Trump explicitly tied Ukraine aid to investigations into the Bidens.

Democratic strategists haunted by damaging right-wing attacks on past nominees Hillary Clinton and John Kerry say the specter of Hunter Biden getting publicly grilled by Senate Republicans would inject uncertainty into a still-fluid primary race.

…

Trump’s allies vow that if Bolton is called, they’ll subpoena Hunter Biden, and perhaps the former vice president.

“If you call John Bolton, we’re going to call everybody,” South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s most vocal defenders, said Tuesday. He made clear that means the Bidens. –Bloomberg

“Biden can expect Trump and outside groups to deliver the same experience that wrecked Clinton’s and Kerry’s campaigns,” said Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, adding “Isolate and amplify the most damaging charge against the strongest Democratic candidate and hammer into voters’ minds until Election Day.”

Meanwhile, in ‘please clap’ news, Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign is now begging his supporters to defend him against online attacks from Bernie Sanders supporters, according to Bloomberg.

With less than a week before the Iowa caucuses, the Biden campaign expressed concern on a call to its supporters that Sanders people were “getting ugly” and it had to “step up its game” defending the vice president. The message was confirmed by campaign national press secretary TJ Ducklo. –Bloomberg

And last but not least, Joe Biden put his hands on an Iowa voter Tuesday, telling him to “go vote for someone else” after he was asked not to support the construction of new pipelines. The man replied that he would support Biden in the general election against Trump, but that he supports billionaire Tom Steyer for the primaries.

A man in Iowa asks Joe Biden to stop supporting the building of new pipelines. Joe Biden tells him to go vote for someone else and then starts accusing him of voting for Bernie Sanders. Actually, the man says, he’s voting for Tom Steyer. Very awkward. pic.twitter.com/OOuGiypED8

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) January 28, 2020