# What would be the downside to Having Hunter Biden testify at the impeachment trial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 24, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876 "2020-01-24T01:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/21 "2020-01-24T15:03:43Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Bringing up that Biden (and Obama) did the same sorts of things without a whisper of protest from those who are now suffering from a fit of the vapors makes that more obvious even than it is already. Bringing up fabrications and lies almost certainly would disturb and upset Democrats. Because there’s zero evidence that either Biden or Obama attempted to pressure foreign governments to announce investigations into US citizen political opponents for their own personal political gain. It’s amazing to me that the GOP position, even on this board, is swinging towards “yes he did it and it was glorious!”. I really thought that most of you would be opposed to such clear and obvious corruption as this. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/22 "2020-01-24T15:03:51Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > At minimum he got a job that he is terribly unqualified for with his Dad’s connections, and that puts the idea out there that everyone is using Ukraine as their own personal source of riches, so why are we so hard on Trump? Given the above, it seems to me that HB stands a far better shot at the POTUS job than his dad. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/23 "2020-01-24T15:12:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Trump is going to be acquitted, so the trial is about optics. “Corruption, bribery, and abuse of power should disqualify someone from being President” isn’t a position the Dems can afford to have asked about Joe Biden. It necessitates too much uncomfortable flip-flopping, special pleading, attempts to change the subject and/or avoid the question, and other tactics that don’t necessarily work with people other than the Democratic base. > > The impeachment process and trial are entirely partisan. Bringing up that Biden (and Obama) did the same sorts of things without a whisper of protest from those who are now suffering from a fit of the vapors makes that more obvious even than it is already. Yup. Every word of this is false, except the part where you acknowledge that Republicans are defending Trump because he is a Republican. I’d be flabbergasted if you even attempt to back up any of these other allegations, except that Trump has Republicans by the balls and they would eat dog food if instructed to. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/24 "2020-01-24T15:18:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Because there’s zero evidence that either Biden or Obama attempted to pressure foreign governments to announce investigations into US citizen political opponents for their own personal political gain. This is exactly the “special pleading” that Shodan is referring to. You define the evil as something so narrow that only one person in the world, if he is guilty, could have possibly done it and then exclaim how uniquely awful such a thing is because only one person has done it. It’s an informal logical fallacy. Left wing justices on the Supreme Court have perfected this to an art form when they announce “general principles” as a reason for their holdings. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/25 "2020-01-24T15:21:04Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This is exactly the “special pleading” that Shodan is referring to. You define the evil as something so narrow that only one person in the world, if he is guilty, could have possibly done it and then exclaim how uniquely awful such a thing is because only one person has done it. It’s an informal logical fallacy. There’s nothing even close to comparable. The GOP had the House for many years under Obama, and they never found anything close to Obama or Biden using their official powers for personal gain. Obama didn’t do anything like this. Neither did Biden. Nothing has been put forward that comes close. And it’s not credible that the House GOP and Senate didn’t try their hardest to find such a thing (which is absolutely fine and appropriate for the opposition to search for). > [@](#): > > Left wing justices on the Supreme Court have perfected this to an art form when they announce “general principles” as a reason for their holdings. This is a cite-free garbage post. Might as well say “liberals are poopy-heads”. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/26 "2020-01-24T15:27:33Z")
The logic seems to be: “Obama wore a tan suit once, so that excuses Trump from doing any criminal act” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/27 "2020-01-24T15:29:44Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Left wing justices on the Supreme Court have perfected this to an art form when they announce “general principles” as a reason for their holdings. Right wing justices on the Supreme Court have perfected this to an art form when they announce “originalist principles” as a reason for their holdings. Hey… I like this game. Let’s do another! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/28 "2020-01-24T15:30:18Z")
“There really isn’t any big difference between Trump Tower Moscow and that White House vegetable garden. Both sides do it!” ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/29 "2020-01-24T15:33:58Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > There’s nothing even close to comparable. The GOP had the House for many years under Obama, and they never found anything close to Obama or Biden using their official powers for personal gain. > > Obama didn’t do anything like this. Neither did Biden. Nothing has been put forward that comes close. And it’s not credible that the House GOP and Senate didn’t try their hardest to find such a thing (which is absolutely fine and appropriate for the opposition to search for). Biden’s kid who is a complete fuckup: no training or education in the energy field, has a crack cocaine issue, gets strippers pregnant and abandons his child. Are you suggesting that if his name was Hunter Ultravires he would have gotten that job? So there is at least smoke there…and it’s from a foreign power like Ukraine who depends on us for military aid. And getting your kid a job cannot be more personal. It has not even a fig leaf cover like Trump suggesting he was ferreting out corruption. This is a straight up personal political favor, after Biden had threatened to previously withhold aid. Now, I don’t think Biden is corrupt. I’m just saying that this is par for the course. Perhaps it shouldn’t be. But everyone not named Trump gets away with these sorts of things all the time and throughout history…that is unless you define the evil in such a specific way that only Trump is guilty of it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/30 "2020-01-24T15:39:07Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I think his testimony is irrelevant. Whether you are on Trump’s side (he had the right to investigate) or whether you are on the Dem side (this was just corruption and if he wanted an investigation he should have went through the proper channels) it matters not whether Hunter Biden is actually guilty or not. This phrasing is unfair to Biden. To say it doesn’t matter if he is guilty or not is to suggest there _may_ be something he is guilty of, when no evidence of any crime has ever been shown. > [@](#): > > Putting Hunter Biden on the stand would be a great political move by the GOP. At minimum he got a job that he is terribly unqualified for with his Dad’s connections, and that puts the idea out there that everyone is using Ukraine as their own personal source of riches, so why are we so hard on Trump? Apparently HB recently got a stripper pregnant in Arkansas and gave up all custodial rights to the child. That will come out. A real piece of work. Most Americans would probably look at him and think Trump should have done more. (Even though that isn’t legally correct). It could also be a disaster. Since the Republicans have long suggested that Biden is indeed guilty of _something_, they would have to pursue that line of questioning when he is on the stand, otherwise they look foolish. But having no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, what the hell are they going to ask him about? As for what you suggest, surely they would try to make the point that Biden got the job because of his Daddy, etc, but I don’t think the American public is dumb enough not to know this kind of thing goes on all the time in politics, and in the end it’s not that big of a deal, especially given that the Republicans haven’t got shit on him otherwise. As to the the stripper story, bringing that up in the context of Biden’s known issues with drugs and alcohol, this could look like gratuitous piling on, and make the Republicans look desperate. I don’t think that would be a good move at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/31 "2020-01-24T15:46:10Z")
Hunter Biden shouldn’t testify because anything he could say would be completely irrelevant to the questions at hand. The only reason to call him to testify would be to distract attention away from real questions. If he actually did something wrong, then put him on trial for it, and call him to testify at that trial. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/32 "2020-01-24T15:47:26Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Trump is going to be acquitted, so the trial is about optics. Agreed. > [@Shodan](#): > > “Corruption, bribery, and abuse of power should disqualify someone from being President” isn’t a position the Dems can afford to have asked about Joe Biden. I strongly disagree. The reality is the Democrats could easily afford to have Joe Biden or Hunter Biden testify. (Yes, I noted how you switched from Hunter Biden to Joe Biden. Which demonstrates what this is really about.) Republican calls to investigate Biden are no different than their calls to lock up Hillary. They’re just empty noise. The Republicans have nothing to back it up. The Republicans can’t to go to trial because at a trial, they’d be forced to show their hand and everyone would see they’ve been bluffing. There’s no evidence against Hunter Biden. There’s no evidence against Joe Biden. There’s no evidence against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. The Republicans are lying and lying and lying and lying. And they’re going to keep on lying. Because there’s no penalty for lying as long as they never have to enter a courtroom. > [@Shodan](#): > > The impeachment process and trial are entirely partisan. Bringing up that Biden (and Obama) did the same sorts of things without a whisper of protest from those who are now suffering from a fit of the vapors makes that more obvious even than it is already. There’s a massive difference between the Democratic accusations against Trump and the Republican accusations against everyone else. The Democrats can back it up. They’ve got evidence that proves Trump is guilty. The Democrats are not bluffing like the Republicans are. The Democrats are not lying like the Republicans are. So this is a battle between the Republican’s ability to tell lies and the Democrats’ ability to tell the truth. Normally such a battle would favor the Republicans because they are really good at lying. But there’s the Trump factor; Trump is the exception to the Republican norm because while he lies all the time he’s really bad at it. Trump is the Republicans’ weakpoint. If the Democrats can maneuver Trump into a position where he has to speak under oath, he’s finished. He’ll fall and he’ll take a lot of other Republicans down with him. And the other Republicans know this. Which is why they’re trying to take Donald Trump out of his own impeachment trial by throwing other names into it. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/33 "2020-01-24T15:49:09Z")
Does Roberts have any say so in the subpoenas? If the Republicans vote to subpoena HB, can Roberts just say “No. His knowledge is not material to the matter at hand.”? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/34 "2020-01-24T15:52:09Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > And getting your kid a job cannot be more personal. What the fuck are you talking about? What, did you get this from some new documents that Rudy bought from the GRU or something? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/35 "2020-01-24T15:55:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Agreed. > > I strongly disagree. The reality is the Democrats could easily afford to have Joe Biden or Hunter Biden testify. (Yes, I noted how you switched from Hunter Biden to Joe Biden. Which demonstrates what this is really about.) > > Republican calls to investigate Biden are no different than their calls to lock up Hillary. They’re just empty noise. The Republicans have nothing to back it up. The Republicans can’t to go to trial because at a trial, they’d be forced to show their hand and everyone would see they’ve been bluffing. > > There’s no evidence against Hunter Biden. There’s no evidence against Joe Biden. There’s no evidence against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. The Republicans are lying and lying and lying and lying. And they’re going to keep on lying. Because there’s no penalty for lying as long as they never have to enter a courtroom. > > There’s a massive difference between the Democratic accusations against Trump and the Republican accusations against everyone else. The Democrats can back it up. They’ve got evidence that proves Trump is guilty. The Democrats are not bluffing like the Republicans are. The Democrats are not lying like the Republicans are. > > So this is a battle between the Republican’s ability to tell lies and the Democrats’ ability to tell the truth. Normally such a battle would favor the Republicans because they are really good at lying. But there’s the Trump factor; Trump is the exception to the Republican norm because while he lies all the time he’s really bad at it. Trump is the Republicans’ weakpoint. If the Democrats can maneuver Trump into a position where he has to speak under oath, he’s finished. He’ll fall and he’ll take a lot of other Republicans down with him. > > And the other Republicans know this. Which is why they’re trying to take Donald Trump out of his own impeachment trial by throwing other names into it. 1. Which is it? Do you have “evidence that proves Trump is guilty” or do you need more witnesses in order to prove the case? You side keeps saying both things. They both cannot be true. 2. There is as much evidence of criminality against Joe Biden as there is against Donald Trump. All you have is smoke and inferences. But as you see things through the tinted glasses, the inferences against Joe are small, petty, and really meaningless, but as you hate Trump and have always hated him with a passion, then every inference goes against him and it is perfectly clear that he did what you suspect. We did this in the other thread with the “very fine people” on both sides comment. It is clear from the text that he didn’t say what your side said he did. It’s right there. When pressed on it, well, you just know what he meant even if he didn’t say it and expressly denied that was his intention, because Trump is just evil and you can feel it. That’s what Trump has put up with this entire time, and if this principle was applied generally, then every president gets impeached and removed. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/36 "2020-01-24T15:56:41Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Does Roberts have any say so in the subpoenas? If the Republicans vote to subpoena HB, can Roberts just say “No. His knowledge is not material to the matter at hand.”? No. 51 Senators make the rules. > [@Ravenman](#): > > What the fuck are you talking about? What, did you get this from some new documents that Rudy bought from the GRU or something? You think Hunter Biden got the job on merit? That he interviewed with all of the other qualified candidates and came out on top? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/37 "2020-01-24T15:59:27Z")
You said that Joe Biden got him the job with Burisma. Are you now backing away from that? ETA: do you think George W Bush got into Harvard on his merits? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/38 "2020-01-24T16:01:48Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Now, I don’t think Biden is corrupt. I’m just saying that this is par for the course. Perhaps it shouldn’t be. But everyone not named Trump gets away with these sorts of things all the time and throughout history…that is unless you define the evil in such a specific way that only Trump is guilty of it. Trump is being accused of extorting a foreign government for personal gain. Not of hiring his own family to serve in his own administration. So Trump _is_ getting away with everything that Biden has gotten away with. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/39 "2020-01-24T16:09:14Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > You said that Joe Biden got him the job with Burisma. Are you now backing away from that? > > ETA: do you think George W Bush got into Harvard on his merits? Yes Joe got him the job, the same way G.W. Bush got into Harvard because of his dad. But if we get all Trumpy about it then we have to say that these fathers (along with all other powerful fathers throughout history) committed bribery or extortion or abused their power and charge them under the federal bribery statute. You don’t believe that Ukraine thought that there might be something in the pipeline for that job for Hunter? And we aren’t talking about box seats to the Yankees game; we are talking $50k/month. They didn’t pay to have someone in Joe’s ear? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876/40 "2020-01-24T16:10:36Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The impeachment process and trial are entirely partisan. Bringing up that Biden (and Obama) did the same sorts of things without a whisper of protest from those who are now suffering from a fit of the vapors makes that more obvious even than it is already. > > Regards, > Shodan While there are no doubt healthy doses of partisanship on both sides, surely you aren’t suggesting they exist in equal amounts, right? On one side, you have a simple and irrefutably correct argument that if you want to decide if someone should be thrown out of office, you should hear as much evidence as possible from both sides in order to make the best informed decision that you can. And on the other side, you have Republicans… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-be-the-downside-to-having-hunter-biden-testify-at-the-impeachment-trial/846876.md?page=3)