Report: Several Senate Democrats are talking about trading the testimony of Hunter Biden for John Bolton
Some Democratic senators are privately discussing what would happen if they told Republicans that former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden should testify in President Trump's impeachment trial — so long as former National Security Adviser John Bolton does, too.
Multiple Democratic officials told The Washington Post that lawmakers are discussing trading Bolton for Biden, as they feel having Bolton testify in the trial is that important. The impeachment charges allege that Trump froze approved military aid and withheld a meeting from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a way to pressure Zelensky into announcing an investigation into the Bidens. Hunter Biden once served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, and Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani have pushed unfounded allegations that Joe Biden protected his son from a corruption probe. Hunter Biden was never accused of any wrongdoing during his time at Burisma.
Democrats want Bolton and other witnesses who potentially have firsthand knowledge about Trump's Ukraine decisions to testify in the trial. Although Democrats believe Hunter Biden is irrelevant to the trial, Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have said he should testify, and the Democrats see this as an opening to get Bolton in as well, the Post reports. Some Democrats worry this takes the spotlight off of Trump, who is actually the one on trial, but others think having Hunter or Joe Biden testify would backfire against Trump.
"If you want to give Joe Biden an opportunity to sit in the well of the Senate and answer the question, 'Do you think the president acted appropriately?' go right ahead," Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told the Post. "I can't imagine a person more comfortable in the well of the Senate than a man who spent 36 years here as a United States senator." Read more at The Washington Post.
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