On Christmas afternoon, CNN host Kate Bolduan moderated a panel of CNN analysts on impeachment, and she cited an op-ed by a former press secretary for Rep. Jerrold Nadler boasting Democrats "should embrace the idea of having someone like Hunter Biden testify" at the Senate trial. "There is no real downside for Schumer. Democrats needn't worry about the younger Biden or anyone else's testimony helping Trump."
But CNN analysts Josh Rogin and Samantha Vinograd strongly disagreed, insisting that calling Hunter Biden as a witness in a trial about Trump nudging the Ukrainians to investigate Hunter Biden is somehow a "crazy" idea. He's not a "real witness" to anything.
CNN Republican-leaning analyst Doug Heye argued "Donald Trump doesn't play chess. He plays checkers. And if everybody else thinks he's playing chess, and he plays checkers, it gives him an advantage." Rogin thought that called for jokes about kiddie games.
BOLDUAN: Yes, I want to get your take, because do you think -- I mean, from what you hear from Democrats, do you think the Democrats think they have nothing to lose with a move like that? I mean, what does it mean for Joe Biden?
ROGIN: No, I -- listen, I don't think Trump is playing chess or checkers. I think he's playing Hungry Hungry Hippos, OK? And he's just...
BOLDUAN, smiling: Don't bash that game. My favorite as a kid.
ROGIN: And I get why the president wants a circus, right? A circus is a circus. It's good for him. Everyone gets confused. We end up talking about Hunter Biden. That's not good for the Democrats. There's no way that's good for the Democrats. They should not want that. They're calling for real witnesses. Right? We're going to have a trial of the president where the five people who actually know what happened will never be heard from? Does that make any sense?
The things that Pelosi is calling for are reasonable. Let's have the people who know what happened talk about what happened. OK? And once we start going off to Hunter Biden, what's next, the CrowdStrike guy, Diamond and Silk? It's going to be just as crazy.
And of course that's good for the president. That's bad for the Democrats. And I think McConnell thinks it's bad for Republicans too.
Then Bolduan turned to Vinograd, who doubled down:
VINOGRAD: I think it's ridiculous. I mean, Josh raises the fact that this is bad for Joe Biden. We have to look at both why this is bad for impeachment and why this is bad for our election going forward.
With respect to impeachment, this will turn the Senate floor into circus. Hunter Biden has nothing to do with the trial of the U.S. president. We can go round and around with Republican talking points about how the president was focused on anti-corruption in Ukraine. That has been discounted so many times, Kate.
With respect to the 2020 election, President Trump would like nothing better than to continue spreading conspiracy theories about the Bidens. And what would be a great way to do that? Having Hunter Biden on the Senate floor and having House managers -- potential House managers like Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows go after him tweet, whatever he says, misconstrue it, and really use that as a campaign ad for President Trump for 2020.
As opposed to CNN, which runs hourlong specials bashing Trump....that sound like campaign ads.
