Biden says no ‘legitimacy’ to calling him as impeachment witness, after clarifying subpoena stance

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Biden vows to defy any subpoena for President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial

Former Vice President Joe Biden clarifies comments on defying subpoena and says ‘this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine’; Rich Edson reports.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Joe Biden said Monday there’s no legitimate reason for him to testify at President Trump’s upcoming Senate impeachment trial, even as the former vice president and top-tier Democratic presidential candidate sought to clarify earlier comments on whether he'd comply with a subpoena.

BIDEN CLARIFIES REMARK THAT HE WOULD NOT COMPLY WITH SENATE SUBPOENA

Speaking at a Seacoast Media Group editorial board meeting in New Hampshire – the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House – Biden said: “I am not going to legitimate what this president is trying to do. Obviously, if I were subpoenaed I’d respond. But there is no legitimacy whatsoever to my being subpoenaed to testify in his impeachment. This issue is what did he do. What did he do.”

Pointing to Trump, Biden emphasized that “what I don’t want to do is play the game. He does it his whole career. Divert. Divert the attention.”

Trump was impeached earlier this month by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. In a near party-line vote, the chamber charged the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided to hold off sending the articles of impeachment to the GOP-controlled Senate until she learns of Republican plans for the shape of the trial.

Some Republicans have indicated they could redirect the spotlight onto Biden, looking into his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings with a Ukrainian energy company and whether the then vice president pushed to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect his son. That issue was at the heart of what Trump originally wanted Ukraine to investigate, touching off the chain of events leading to his impeachment.

Biden has repeatedly said there’s no evidence either he or his son did anything improper.

“I will not contribute to the notion that there’s any legitimacy to the notion of calling me as a witness. If in fact I got a subpoena, we’d deal with it then. But I’m not suggesting that on anything other than, there is no rational basis for me being called in an impeachment investigation. It’s whether he’s guilty of the two charges that were made against him. I cannot add any direct evidence to that,” Biden said.

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On Friday, Biden told The Des Moines Register that he’d ignore a congressional order to testify. It was the second time this month he made such a comment. But on Saturday, he seemed to walk back his position.

His latest comments do not make clear, however, whether he might challenge such a subpoena in court.