IOWA FALLS, Iowa — Joe Biden said that he will not testify in impeachment proceedings against President Trump, a rebuke to Republican lawmakers who say that they want to hear from him.

“No, I’m not going to let them take their eye off the ball,” Biden said Wednesday when asked if he would appear voluntarily. "The president is the one who has committed impeachable crimes. I'm not going to let him diverge from that. I'm not going to let anyone diverge from that."





Republicans and Trump have expressed their desire for Biden and his son Hunter, 49, to testify. Hunter Biden was on a Ukrainian gas company board while his father was vice president and working on Ukrainian foreign policy, and Trump asked Ukraine to investigate the matter — actions at the heart of impeachment proceedings.

"I think the president has basically impeached himself," Biden said.

Biden, 77, is in the middle of his "No Malarkey" bus tour through Iowa and said he had not watched Wednesday's impeachment hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.