Official portrait of United States Vice President Joe Biden in his West Wing Office at the White House.
Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden clarified that he would “obey any subpoena” after making comments about ignoring a subpoena to testify in the Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump.
“First of all, I’m going to obey any subpoena that was sent to me,” Biden said at a campaign event in Iowa on Saturday.
The day prior, Biden confirmed to the Des Moines Register that he would not comply with a Senate subpoena.
Biden originally told the Register that his testimony would enable the President to “get away” from being the focus of the trial.
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“If I went, let’s say I voluntarily, just said let me go make my case, what are you going to cover?” he said, referring to the media. “You guys, instead of focusing on him, you’re going to cover for three weeks anything I said. And he’s going to get away.”
He continued to clarify his remarks on Twitter Saturday morning, writing that he has “always complied with a lawful order.”
In a second tweet he explained his comments.
“But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial,” Biden wrote. “That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine.”
He then suggested the Senate subpoena those involved with, or witness to, the Ukraine pressure campaign as well as the White House itself.
Biden became embroiled in the impeachment inquiry after a phone call transcript revealed Trump had asked the president of Ukraine to “look into” Biden and his son’s dealings in Ukraine. Trump’s request for a foreign government to investigate a political rival drove the impeachment inquiry.
As Vice President, Biden caused the firing of Ukraine’s top prosecutor, who was widely viewed as corrupt. That prosecutor had at one point investigated a natural gas company, where Biden’s son sat on the board.
Congress decided that these actions, in conjunction with a freeze on U.S. military aid, were an abuse of power by Trump. He was impeached for this, and for obstructing Congress, and is awaiting an impeachment trial in Senate.
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