Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.V.) on Wednesday said he believes Hunter Biden may be a pertinent witness in the
Senate impeachment trial."I think so, I really do," Manching said when asked on MSNBC's Morning Joe whether he thought the former vice president's son was a "relevant" witness. "I don't have a problem there because this is why we are where we are.""I think that he could clear himself from what I know and what I've heard," Manchin went on, "but being afraid to put anybody that might have pertinent information [on the witness stand] is wrong, whether you're Democrat or Republican."> .@WillieGeist asks @Sen_JoeManchin if Hunter Biden is a 'relevant witness.' Sen. Manchin responds: "I think so; I really do." pic.twitter.com/ZESiUMWTWc> > -- Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) January 29, 2020The Senate is currently entering the two-day question and answer phase of impeachment, after which it will vote on whether to subpoena witnesses and documents to be used as evidence at the trial.
Democrats would like to summon former
White House national security adviser
John Bolton to testify, however
Republicans may then insist on calling Hunter Biden as well as the whistleblower whose complaint set off the impeachment process.Hunter Biden was the head of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings from 2014 through early 2019. In 2016, at the behest of U.S. and
European Union officials, then-vice president
Joe Biden pressured
Ukraine to
fire top prosecutor Victor Shokin over suspicions of corruption. Shokin had in the past led an investigation into Burisma for corruption within the company.Manchin, whose state of West
Virginia contains a strong base of support for Trump, is one of three Senate Democrats who have remained publicly undecided on whether to acquit or convict the President."I know it’s hard to believe that. But I really am [undecided]. But I have not made a final decision. Every day, I hear something, I think ‘this is compelling, that’s compelling,'" the Senator said on Tuesday. "Everyone’s struggling a little bit."