Ahead of former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial, Joe Biden, who was then a senator, argued against hearing additional witnesses.
According to a January 1999 memo, obtained by Politico, titled “Arguments in Support of a Summary Impeachment Trial” written by Biden to fellow Democrats, Biden cited two previous cases where the Senate dismissed the impeachment articles without holding a full trial.
The former Delaware senator then wrote, “The Senate may dismiss articles of impeachment without holding a full trial or taking new evidence. Put another way, the Constitution does not impose on the Senate the duty to hold a trial.”
Biden argues in the four-page memo, “The Senate need not hold a ‘full-blown’ trial even though the House wishes to present evidence and hold a full trial … and the elements of jurisdiction are present.”
Additionally, Biden wrote:
“In a number of previous impeachment trials, the Senate has reached the judgment that its constitutional role as a sole trier of impeachments does not require it to take new evidence or hear live witness testimony.
[…] In light of the extensive record already compiled, it may be that the benefit of receiving additional evidence or live testimony is not great enough to outweigh the public costs (in terms of national prestige, faith in public institutions, etc.) of such a proceeding. While a judge may not take such considerations into account, the Senate is uniquely competent to make such a balance.”
However, as Politico reports, Biden told CNN in 1999 shortly after the memo that he was open to the possibility of witnesses if the House Republican impeachment managers “make a case as to why they didn’t see any need for any witnesses and now they think they should call witnesses.”
As IJR previously reported, Biden said at a campaign stop that he and his son want “no part of being any part of” a witness swap in Trump’s impeachment trial. Some Senate Democrats have also argued that the former vice president and his son Hunter Biden are “not relevant witnesses.”
The memo resurfacing comes as the Senate is faced with two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The trial is seemingly coming to a near end. However, as Senate Democrats are hoping for enough votes for additional witnesses to be called, Republican lawmakers seem to have the support to vote against it, as IJR reported.
