“No one ― not a single person I’ve heard, even those who want Hunter Biden ― have even alleged that he has knowledge of the fact case the House is presenting,” Schumer told Berman. 

“This shouldn’t be for Democrats to bring in their favorite conspiracy theories and for Republicans to bring in theirs,” he continued. “This is an august and solemn proceeding.”

 

When pressed by Berman regarding why Hunter Biden shouldn’t testify, Schumer called him “a distraction.” 

“He’s a distraction,” Schumer said. ”The American people want to know of each of us as senators, do we want all the facts to come out in this proceeding … or do we want to be engaged in a cover-up?” 

 

“These four witnesses have direct knowledge of the facts, particularly in regard to the delay in the aid to Ukraine. … This is the right evidence.” Senate Minority Leader @SenSchumer discusses his witness requests in the Senate impeachment trial. https://t.co/znD9JYveob pic.twitter.com/VtVYAdb88G

— New Day (@NewDay) December 16, 2019

 

President Trump and some Republicans have expressed interest in Hunter Biden testifying as part of a likely Senate trial as the House gears up to vote on two articles of impeachment this week against President Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Democrats say Trump abused his power by pressing Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic front-runner, and Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. 

 

Republicans have accused Joe Biden of pushing Ukraine to fire a prosecutor that had investigated the Ukrainian company that employed Hunter Biden. The former vice president has defended his actions, saying his call for the prosecutor’s ouster was tied to concerns about corruption raised by the Obama administration.

Schumer said Monday that the four witnesses Democrats want testimony from are Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, John Bolton, former national security adviser, Robert Blair, senior adviser to the acting White House chief of staff, and Michael Duffey, associate director for national security at the Office of Management and Budget.