Sources:
As the House of Representatives prepare to enter the next stage of the impeachment inquiry by holding their first public hearings starting on Wednesday, November 13th, there are tactics being used by both sides to sway the public opinion to their favor. On the Republican side, they have released a list of people to testify in an open setting for the inquiry. This list contains 9 people and of them, Hunter Biden and the anonymous whistle blower are mentioned. Of course, the Republicans are the minority party within the House, so it is up to Democrat Adam Schiff whether to approve them or not. However, this has not stopped House Republicans from threatening Schiff by stating that both Pelosi and Schiff would be "doubling down on stupid" if they prevent the Republican party from choosing people to testify. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky also has said that "if you can't call Hunter Biden and you can't call the whistleblower, that's sort of a sham. That's not really even a trial."
Hunter Biden has been subject to a controversy regarding his position as a board member of Burisma Holdings, specifically when Vice President Joe Biden was in Ukraine. This Ukrainian gas company was revealed to have bribed the the Ukrainian prosecutor general so that he would not investigate the company. Then, after that prosecutor general was fired, Victor Shokin was put into the role but was soon fired after allegations of corruption prompted Joe Biden's push to oust him. Republicans have claimed that this was corrpution on Biden's end and have thus called for Hunter Biden to testify.
Regarding the whisteblower, the Republicans claim that the whisteblower needs their identity to be revealed for them to take their claims as credible and for the American people to see how they got their evidence. However, Adam Schiff has responded by saying that "the whistleblower has a right under laws championed by this Committee to remain anonymous and to be protected from harm."
The House Republicans' strategy at this point seems to involve dragging up more controversy and dirt on the Democrats, especially by involving Hunter Biden who has tried to clear the air up for himself and his father and by focusing more on the corruption within Ukraine rather than the call that brought the impeachment inquiry into action.
Questions:
Do you think that Hunter Biden should testify in the impeachment inquiry?
Is the House Republican's strategy relevant to the impeachment inquiry, or does it seek to cloud the public opinion?
3 comments:
By insisting that Hunter Biden testify in the impeachment inquiry, the Republicans are making themselves look desperate, as if they're clinging onto a conspiracy theory instead of a real defense. That said, I don't see any harm in letting Hunter Biden testify in order to appease the House Republicans, except the time it'd waste. I think the claim the Biden corruption claim is so ridiculous, there must be a good number of Republicans who only say they believe it in order to remain loyal to the party. If this is true, it would exemplify strong party discipline and the limits on representatives' independence to vote their conscience.
I totally agree with you, Jossie, that the Republicans are acting a fit of desperation to make conspiracy theories seem like the truth. Yet, if they are consistent with their strategy it could be scary to see Republicans indoctrinated into believing the conspiracies that they are spreading around. I think the Democrats are weary about the Republicans setting up Hunter Biden to look more suspicious which would backfire on them. But if they can dismiss their claims then it should be fine.
There isn't really a case to be had with Hunter Biden, so he's not obligated to testify. In my opinion, though, he honestly should just to clear the air surrounding the whole ordeal. The Ukraine controversy is one of the best Democratic talking points going into the 2020 elections, and with Joe Biden impossibly still leading, Hunter's involvement has the potential to create "Hillary's E-mails" type news cycles, which could seriously damage a potential Biden campaign.
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