Democratic senator on Manchin comments: ‘Hunter Biden is not on trial’

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday dismissed his Democratic colleague Sen. Joe Manchin’s (W.Va.) claim that Hunter Biden is a “relevant” witness as part of President Trump’s impeachment trial. 

Markey echoed comments largely made throughout his caucus, noting that former Vice President Joe Biden’s son does not have knowledge of Trump’s decisions at the core of the allegations central to the impeachment charges. 

“I disagree,” Markey said Wednesday on CNN, in reference to the comments Manchin made earlier. “Hunter Biden is not on trial, Joe Biden is not on trial. Donald Trump is on trial.”

“Hunter Biden doesn’t have any relevant — and that’s the key word — relevant information about anything that Donald Trump was doing to extort an investigation of the Biden family out of the Ukraine government in return for $391 million worth of American taxpayer national security aid.”

“Hunter Biden is not on trial. Joe Biden is not on trial. Donald Trump is on trial.” @SenMarkey says he disagrees with fellow Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s comments that Hunter Biden is a relevant witness in the impeachment trial. https://t.co/b2Dk2S1iP4 pic.twitter.com/oQR7HweRjS

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) January 29, 2020

Manchin, in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said that he does think Hunter Biden is a relevant witness.

Some Republicans have floated the idea of trading testimony from Biden for witnesses the Democrats are pushing for, including former national security adviser John Bolton. 

Markey said the idea of Biden testifying is a “red herring” put out by Trump’s defense team. 

“Again it’s just not relevant and it’s a way to distract and ultimately to deny the factual core of the charges made against Trump,” Markey said.

A vote on whether to allow witnesses during the trial is expected on Friday. If all Democrats vote in favor of the measure, they will need at least four Republicans to join them in order for it to pass. 

Several Republicans have signaled they may vote to hear from witnesses, especially in wake of a New York Times report Sunday night on Bolton’s manuscript of his forthcoming memoir.

Trump’s former national security adviser reportedly claims that the president tied military aid to Ukraine directly to investigations into the Bidens, backing the allegations at the core of the impeachment charges.