Joe Biden says he would refuse to give testimony in Trump impeachment trial

Former vice president later clarifies his comments, saying he does not believe a refusal would be breaking the law

Former vice president Joe Biden has stood by his comments that he will not comply with any subpoena to testify at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate – doubling down on Saturday despite criticism from some legal experts.

In a meeting on Friday with the editorial board of The Des Moines Register he argued that complying with a subpoena and testifying would essentially allow the president to succeed in shifting attention onto Mr Biden and away from the president’s actions.

“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. The issue is not what I did.”

“This is all about a diversion. And we play his game all the time. He’s done it his whole career.”

On Saturday, he clarified his comments after some legal experts criticised his position, who pointed out that the White House’s refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas was part of the reason why Mr Trump had been impeached.

He said: “In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office – unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence – cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests.

“But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial.”

Mr Biden met with The Register - whose endorsement is coveted by candidates – at the beginning of a two-day visit to Iowa.

Mr Biden had previously said he would not comply with a subpoena to testify at the impeachment trial. When asked on Friday about this stance he said: “The grounds for them to call me would be overwhelmingly specious. But, so, I don’t anticipate that happening anyway.”

He said volunteering to appear would not be a good idea either.

“What are you going to cover?” he asked, referring to the media. “You’re going to cover, for three weeks, anything I said. And he’s going to get away.”

The house impeached Mr Trump last week for abusing his power and obstructing congress in connection with a campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including Mr Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

A trial is anticipated in the Republican-controlled Senate to determine whether Trump should be removed from office. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet transmitted the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber in a bid to pressure Republicans to reach an accord with the Democrats on trial rules.

Ross Garber, a Washington lawyer specialising in impeachment proceedings, said it was “incredibly unlikely” that Republican senators would back an effort to push for Biden’s testimony.

Mr Trump has been threatening to call Democrats to testify (Getty)

The president and his Republican allies have attempted to turn the tables by threatening to call Democrats, including the Bidens, to testify. That could provide an opportunity for Mr Trump to boost the same unfounded accusations against the Bidens that he tried to get the Ukrainian president to agree to probe in their 25 July phone call.

There is no evidence that the elder Biden, while serving as vice president, improperly intervened in Ukraine to benefit his son.