Former Vice President Joe Biden has gotten himself into a real quandry — and he’s still trying to get out of it.
At a campaign stop the other day, Biden — who remains a 2020 Democrat frontrunner — suggested that he would not testify if he were to be subpoenaed as part of a Senate trial against President Donald Trump on the articles of impeachment (should those ever be transmitted from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the Senate).
A reporter asked Biden, “Do you stand by your earlier statements that you wouldn’t comply if you were subpoenaed to testify in an impeachment trial before the Senate?”
And Biden responded, “Correct. And the reason I wouldn’t is because it’s all designed to deal with Trump doing what he’s done his whole life, trying to take the focus off him.”
Ah — but then likely realizing the political trouble there, Biden tweeted out afterward, “I want to clarify something I said yesterday. In my 40 years of public life, I’ve always comply with a lawful order. In my eight years as VP, my office, unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence, cooperated with the legitimate congressional oversight request.”
Related: Biden Said He Won’t Testify in a Senate Trial — Then Tried to Clarify
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) (shown above right, at the top of this article) appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with guest anchor Charles Payne on Sunday to discuss Biden’s comments and more.
Biggs is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and also a co-chair of the House Freedom Caucus, among the most conservative of House Republicans.
“[He’s now] trying to clean this thing up,” said Payne to Biggs. “It’s interesting that the Senate is being accused of things that — before the impeachment trial even happens. And here, Joe Biden is saying, ‘Hey, I’m not even going to cooperate.'”
Biggs responded, “It’s interesting that he had to clean it up.”
“But we’ve gotten used to it Joe Biden having to clean up stuff.”
“The reality is, I think when he was speaking the first time, [that] is exactly where he stands. He [and] the Democrats believe, and the Left believes, that whatever the Senate does is not going to be legitimate.”
“And that’s part of the problem.”
“And so, Joe Biden is saying, ‘I’m not going to go.’ But reality is, the question over executive privilege is an entirely different matter than what he’s saying,” added Biggs.
Related: Impeachment Should ‘Only Be Used for the Most Serious of Situations’
“He’s trying to conflate an actual subpoena given to him by the Senate with what the president was invoking, which was executive privilege, which the House had the right to go to court and examine that process.”
“And they chose not to because they wanted to get — in a hurry. I mean, they said, ‘We’re in too big of a hurry to do this.’ And, now, we see that they’re really not that big of a hurry, after all.”
“But Joe Biden, I think, would show up because it’s a different animal than executive privilege and he would be subject to contempt.”
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