Joe Manchin: Hunter Biden is a relevant witness

Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, on Wednesday said Hunter Biden would be a “relevant witness” in President Trump’s impeachment trial.

“I think so — I really do,” Mr. Manchin said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I don’t have a problem there because this is why we are where we are.”

“Now, I think that he [can] clear himself — what I know and what I’ve heard,” he said. “But being afraid to put anybody that might have pertinent is wrong, no matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican.”There has been talk about a potential deal on witnesses in the trial, where Republicans could call someone like Hunter Biden to testify and Democrats could call someone like former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton.

But other top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, have poured cold water on such a trade, saying that Hunter Biden wouldn’t be able to offer relevant testimony about Mr. Trump’s behavior and that his appearance would be a sideshow to the proceedings.

Hunter Biden is the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, a leading 2020 Democratic presidential contender. The Bidens are at the center of Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial.

Mr. Trump stands accused of abuse of power for withholding military aid to Ukraine unless the country’s leaders agreed to announce investigations, including into the Bidens and Hunter Biden’s business dealings in the country.

The president has also been accused of obstruction of Congress for failing to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

Hunter Biden had held a lucrative position on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was vice president and has acknowledged he likely would not have gotten the job if he had a different last name.

in 2018, Mr. Biden bragged about withholding $1 billion in loans to Ukraine if the country didn’t fire a top prosecutor who had reportedly been eyeing Burisma.

Mr. Biden’s team has denied that he was acting to protect his son, saying that the push to fire the prosecutor was U.S. policy at the time and that any investigation into Burisma had long been dormant.