Former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for Congress to open impeachment proceedings against President Trump if the White House does not comply with congressional requests for information related to the president’s dealings with Ukraine and other investigations.
“The president should stop stonewalling this investigation and all the other investigations into his alleged wrongdoings,” Biden said during a brief speech in his home state of Delaware.
“If the president does not comply with such a request by the Congress ... Donald Trump will leave Congress in my view with no choice but to initiate impeachment. That would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making.”
The statement comes after reports surfaced that Trump withheld funds to Ukraine and pressured the country’s president to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter.
Biden’s comments marked a stunning shift for the former vice president in a matter of days. He has refrained from calling for impeachment even as his fellow Democratic presidential candidates supported the measure, and even said as recently as Saturday that he was not yet ready to back such a move.
But for Biden, the controversy that has unfolded in Washington in recent days is now personal, centering on allegations that Trump sought to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid.Biden calls for impeachment if Trump doesn't cooperate in whistleblower inquiry
“The president should stop stonewalling this investigation and all the other investigations into his alleged wrongdoings,” Biden said during a brief speech in his home state of Delaware.
“If the president does not comply with such a request by the Congress ... Donald Trump will leave Congress in my view with no choice but to initiate impeachment. That would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making.”
The statement comes after reports surfaced that Trump withheld funds to Ukraine and pressured the country’s president to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter.
Biden’s comments marked a stunning shift for the former vice president in a matter of days. He has refrained from calling for impeachment even as his fellow Democratic presidential candidates supported the measure, and even said as recently as Saturday that he was not yet ready to back such a move.
But for Biden, the controversy that has unfolded in Washington in recent days is now personal, centering on allegations that Trump sought to pressure Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid.Biden calls for impeachment if Trump doesn't cooperate in whistleblower inquiry