Joe Biden Clarifies Earlier Comments Suggesting He Wouldn't Comply With Senate Subpoena

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday issued several tweets clarifying earlier comments he made in which he had indicated he would not comply with a subpoena issued by the Senate in the course of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.

"The reason I wouldn't is because it's all designed to deal with Trump doing what he's done his whole life: trying to take the focus off him," Biden told the editorial board of The Des Moines Register on Friday. "The issue is not what I did."

His interview elicited swift backlash, especially in light of criticisms from his own party of the current president who has embraced maneuvers stymieing Congress' oversight ability, including through the issuance of subpoenas.

Saturday morning, Biden sought to downplay his comments in a Twitter thread, writing that he has "always complied" with lawful orders.

"In my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests," he added. "But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial. That is the point I was making yesterday and I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump's conduct, not mine."

It was unclear whether Biden meant to suggest he would still not comply with Senate subpoenas because he views them as unlawful, or whether he just doesn't believe they would be issued or upheld in the first place. A spokesperson for the Biden campaign did not return a request from Newsweek for comment seeking clarification.

The Senate trial is expected to get underway in January, though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to appoint House managers (equivalent to prosecutors) or transmit the articles of impeachment to the Upper Chamber.

Biden has become a focus during impeachment proceedings of Republicans who dwell on his son's inadvertent role in Trump's efforts to launch an investigation into his chief political opponent. Hunter Biden, the former vice president's son, was on the board of an energy company that had previously been scrutinized by Ukrainian prosecutors.

The House's impeachment proceedings elicited testimony that alleged that Trump was interested in procuring an investigation, or at least the announcement of one, into the energy company, and exerted substantial pressure on the Ukrainian president in order to do so.

Democrats have argued that dragging Biden into the impeachment process serves as little more than a distraction from allegations that Trump abused the power of his office to undermine a political opponent.