2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden on Saturday night walked back his declaration that he would not comply with a potential subpoena in President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.
“I would obey any subpoena that was sent to me,” Biden told town hall participants in Fairfield, Iowa.
The candidate said the point he was making in his previous comments about subpoenas is that “the only rational reason” for him to be called to testify in the impeachment trial would be if he could shed light on whether Trump “committed the crimes he’s accused of.”
“And there’s no reason to believe I would have any notion of whether he committed that crime,” he continued.
Biden had told the Des Moines Register on Friday that he stood by his stated refusal to cooperate if the GOP-controlled Senate subpoenaed him for a testimony, which Biden said would only serve to “take of the focus off” of Trump’s wrongdoing.
On Saturday morning, the former vice president clarified that while he has “always complied with a lawful order,” he was “just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas” in the impeachment trial.
Watch Biden below:
Biden reverses his refusal to comply with a potential subpoena in Trump's impeachment trial: "I would obey any subpoena that was sent to me." pic.twitter.com/8GyHTxQALc
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 29, 2019
