By Jennifer Yusuf
Republicans called for the son of former US Vice President Joe Biden and the whistleblower whose lawsuit prompted the U.S. investigation into the impeachment of US President Donald Trump to testify in public hearing starting next week.
Nonetheless, Democrats who control the US House of Representatives are likely to reject Hunter Biden and the unknown informant presence at the hearings due to Wednesday’s launch.
Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, included the pair in a list of potential witnesses he sent to the Democratic Chairman of the committee, Adam Schiff, in a letter published on several news websites.
Nunes said in the letter that the Democrats followed a “sham impeachment process” that had mistreated Trump.
Nunes also accused Schiff of creating evidence that cast the telephone call at the center of the investigation “in a suspicious light.”
Trump used the call issued by the White House on July 25 to urge Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy to prosecute the Bidens.
Joe Biden is a leading Democratic nomination contender against Trump’s bid for next year’s re-election.
His son was on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while he was acting as vice president.
The whistleblower lawsuit argued that in three weeks of closed hearings, Trump used the call to obtain foreign assistance for personal political benefit, a claim largely substantiated by the testimony of current and former U.S. officials.
Trump and his allies in the Republic deny any wrongdoing.
If the House were to impeach Trump, a jury would be held by the Republican-controlled Senate that might see him removed from office.
Nunes also said that he would like testimony from Devon Archer, a businessman who worked with Hunter Biden on the Burisma committee, as the pair could “assist the American public in understanding the nature and scale of Ukraine’s omnipresent bribery.”
Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, accused Joe Biden of pursuing the dismissal of a Ukrainian judge, without giving any evidence.
When calling for the whistleblower, Nunes said Trump “should be given a chance to answer his accusers.” In a statement issued after receiving the letter from Nunes, Schiff said the witness list submitted by the Republicans was being assessed.
Nevertheless, he said the applications for Hunter Biden, Archer and several other possible witnesses were likely to be rejected.
