Donald Trump’s Attorney Says Bidens And Ukraine Will Be Part Of Impeachment Defense
After three days of presentations, Democratic House impeachment managers, led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, have stated their case that President Donald Trump should be convicted and removed from the White House.
The ball is now in the White House’s court. On Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, the president’s legal team will respond to the Democrats’ allegations. Jay Sekulow, a member of Trump’s team of attorneys, discussed the defense’s strategy on Friday, according to a report from The Hill.
Speaking with a group of reporters, Sekulow revealed that the defense will talk about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, their allegedly inappropriate dealings in Ukraine, and about the infamous Steele dossier.
“You should be able to get a sense from what I’m saying right now… that we’re going to rebut and refute, and we’re going to put on an affirmative case tomorrow,” Sekulow told reporters, stating that the dossier — partially funded by 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — is “just one issue.”
The Bidens and their alleged corruption will also be discussed by the defense, according to Sekulow, who suggested that he was surprised by House Democrats bringing up the former vice president and his son during the trial.
“For the life of me, they’ve done it, why they opened up the door as wide as a double door on the Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Burisma issue, I guess that was their way of getting ahead of it. We will address it,” the lawyer said.
As The Hill notes, while Biden served as vice president, his son landed a seat on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. In 2016, the elder Biden pushed for the ousting of then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, which, as alleged by Trump, suggests that he was trying to protect Hunter from investigations.
Over the past day, Graham has stepped up his calls for an outside investigator to examine Hunter Biden’s role at Burisma.
And in turn, he’s made clear he doesn't think the Senate should open the door on witnesses, a debate that could extend the trial for weeks pic.twitter.com/14R4LCezmi
— POLITICO (@politico) January 24, 2020
According to fact-checkers, there is no evidence that Biden acted to protect his son. Furthermore, according to Kurt Volker, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine, he was simply “representing U.S. policy at the time.” Nevertheless, GOP lawmakers have echoed the president’s accusations, accusing the Obama-Biden administration of corruption.
“Believe me, you’ll hear about that issue too,” Sekulow announced.
The attorney declined to say whether the president’s legal team will use the full 24 hours it has been granted to present a defense, but he said that the case will be presented from 10 a.m. to around 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“They said can you proceed for three hours tomorrow and then take the other time you need to present your case,” he stated.
Republicans have long suggested that the Bidens should testify in the trial. Earlier this week, the former vice president pushed back against the idea, stating that he does not want to feed into a “farce.”
