Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) revealed Saturday he has drafted motions to subpoena former Vice President Joe Biden, his youngest son Hunter Biden, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), and the so-called “whistleblower.”
Hawley will attempt to force a vote on the subpoenas if the Senate approves additional witnesses and documents as part of the upper chamber’s trial.
Politico reported:
Hawley would also seek communications among the whistleblower, Schiff and his staff, transcripts of Atkinson’s congressional testimony, communications between the House impeachment managers and Democratic presidential candidates as well as documents related to Biden’s drive to oust former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin.
The Missouri Republican’s pledge mirrors one made by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who earlier this month threatened to force a vote on subpoenaing Hunter Biden and the so-called “whistleblower” if Republicans grant the Democrats’ demand for more witnesses.
Paul explained, per Politico:
If you vote against Hunter Biden, you’re voting to lose your election, basically. Seriously. That’s what it is. If you don’t want to vote and you think you’re going to have to vote against Hunter Biden, you should just vote against witnesses, period.
Hawley’s motion is likely to be opposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has come out against subpoenaing Hunter Biden over concerns that the move will extend the trial longer. He said:
To my Republican friends, you may be upset about what happened in Ukraine with the Bidens, but this is not the venue to litigate that. 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.
It is unclear if moderate senators such as Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) would support Hawley’s motion — if it meant the approval of subpoenas for witnesses on the Democrats’ wishlist: Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former Trump White House National Security Advisor John Bolton.
“I think it’s very likely I’ll be in favor of witnesses, but I haven’t made a decision finally yet and I won’t until the testimony is completed,” Romney said Saturday, according to CNN.
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