Senate Judiciary Committee chair Lindsey Graham said Friday he would be opposed to calling former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, as a witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, made his comments in response to questions from reporters about possible witnesses that the GOP may consider calling if any are added.
Asked specifically if Republicans were to compel Hunter Biden to appear, Graham said he would “vote against it,” reports .
Graham said he wouldn’t support calling Hunter Biden because he wants to see the trial brought to a swift conclusion.
“To my Republican friends, you may upset about what happened in Ukraine with the Bidens, but this is not the venue to litigate that,” he said.
Graham added that he’s not aware of three other senators who would also vote against the move, which would effectively end any attempt to have Hunter Biden show up.
But, political observers have said they believe his opposition to it would end hopes of Biden’s testimony.
“I need some Republicans who would say, as much as I want to know more about Burisma and the Bidens, this is not the venue. I’ve got to find four,” he stated.
Graham’s position puts him at odds with other GOP senators, including Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has said he would like to hear from Hunter Biden if Democrats are successful in their push for impeachment witnesses.
“The president gets to call anybody he thinks would be good for his defense, the prosecution can call who they want, but I don’t think we should selectively call witnesses that don’t like the president,” Paul a week ago.
In addition, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Paul’s senior from Kentucky, hinted that he would accept calling Hunter Biden if Democrats were able to call their own witnesses.
“When you get to that issue, I can’t imagine that only the witnesses that our Democratic colleagues would want to call would be called,” he said.
Allegations of corruption against Hunter Biden have come front and center during the impeachment proceedings. Prior reports state he was paid $83,000 monthly by Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings while his father was vice president, despite a lack of experience in the oil and gas industry.