During CNN’s Senate impeachment trial coverage on Wednesday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) discussed his earlier comments about 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s relevancy as a witness in the Senate’s impeachment trial by stating that the witnesses need to be “relevant” and it’s “immaterial” whether or not he thinks Hunter Biden is a relevant witness. He added that if there is a dispute about Hunter Biden’s relevancy as a witness, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts should be the person who is charged with deciding which witnesses are relevant.
Manchin said, “[W]hat I meant to say was that I believe that it has to be fair. If the Democrats get one, two, three, or four, shouldn’t the Republicans get the same amount? But they should be relevant to the charges made against the president. … Whether I think he is or not — Hunter Biden, is immaterial. But if we come to an impasse and they don’t believe it is, and the Democrats contest it, who’s going to basically be the broker? That’s when I said, let’s have a vote first on John Roberts being the person who can make the decision.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett