Biden calls out Iowa GOP senator’s impeachment comments: ‘She spilled the beans’ | TheHill – The Hill

Joe BidenJoe Biden Warren: Dershowitz presentation ‘nonsensical,’ ‘could not follow it’ Bolton told Barr he was concerned Trump did favors for autocrats: report Dershowitz: Bolton allegations would not constitute impeachable offense MORE on Tuesday called out Iowa Sen. Joni ErnstJoni Kay Ernst GOP Iowa senator suggests Trump impeachment defense could hurt Biden at caucuses Republicans show little enthusiasm for impeachment witness swap Progressive group targeting vulnerable GOP senators on impeachment witnesses MORE (R) for suggesting that the former vice president would be hurt politically at next week’s caucuses due to President TrumpDonald John Trump Warren: Dershowitz presentation ‘nonsensical,’ ‘could not follow it’ Bolton told Barr he was concerned Trump did favors for autocrats: report Dershowitz: Bolton allegations would not constitute impeachable offense MORE‘s defense team focusing on him at the Senate impeachment trial.

“She spilled the beans,” Biden said at a campaign event in Muscatine, Iowa, a day after Ernst made her remarks about the Democratic presidential candidate while speaking to reporters at the Capitol.

“She just came out and flat said it. You know, the whole impeachment trial for Trump is just a political hit job to try to smear me, because he is scared to death to run against me, and he has good reason to be concerned,” Biden added.

The former vice president went on to argue that Democrats in Iowa have the chance to “ruin” Trump and Ernst’s night by caucusing for him next Monday during the first-in-the-nation 2020 vote.

Trump’s lawyers repeatedly targeted Biden and his son Hunter Biden during their opening arguments on Monday.

They made the case that Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company whose board included Hunter Biden, was corrupt and that the younger Biden’s spot on the company’s board while his father served as vice president represented a conflict of interest.

Trump’s lawyers also argued that it was appropriate for the president to bring up the Bidens on his now-infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, asserting that he was concerned with corruption.

The phone call is at the center of Trump’s impeachment and allegations that Trump tied millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine to the nation announcing probes into his political opponents, including the Bidens.

Democrats argue that Trump’s dealings amount to abuse of power in pursuit of personal gain, while the White House has maintained that Trump did nothing wrong on the call.

Ernst said Monday she was “really interested” to see how Trump’s legal team’s presentation on the Bidens would inform caucusgoers.

“Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Not sure about that,” she said.

The comments were quickly seized on by Biden’s campaign and others as evidence that Republicans were only interested in handicapping Trump’s opponents.

ERNST: “IA caucuses are this next Monday evening. And I’m really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Demcaucus goers. Will they be supporting VP Biden at this point?”

H/T @JaxAlemany pic.twitter.com/tYYkSPuIDY

— Alan He (@alanhe) January 28, 2020

“Senator Ernst just said the quiet part out loud: Republicans are terrified that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee,” Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden, said in a statement late Monday.

“This turns my stomach,” Sen. Brian SchatzBrian Emanuel Schatz Democrats: McConnell impeachment trial rules a ‘cover-up,’ ‘national disgrace’ Overnight Defense: Book says Trump called military leaders ‘dopes and babies’ | House reinvites Pompeo for Iran hearing | Dems urge Esper to reject border wall funding request Senate Dems urge Esper to oppose shifting Pentagon money to border wall MORE (D-Hawaii) tweeted.