Joe Biden To Visit Manhattan Beach For Fundraiser

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden will attend a fundraiser in Manhattan Beach Wednesday, as well as another in Bel Air.

Biden's visit comes right after a new poll showed he's falling far behind another democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in California, according to the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, conducted for the Los Angeles Times.

Biden is scheduled to attend a pair of fundraisers Wednesday, one in Manhattan Beach and another in Bel Air, according to his campaign. Biden will also tape an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in Hollywood in between the events.

Details of the fundraising events were not released. Deadline.com reported that the evening event in Bel Air will be at the home of Sean Burton, head of the investment firm Cityview and a member of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.

Biden will be visiting the Golden State one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a democrat from California, announced an impeachment inquiry of Trump. Pelosi's announcement came amid growing furor over a telephone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine in which Trump brought up Biden — prompting allegations he may have pressured Ukraine's leader to investigate actions by then-Vice President Biden and his son in 2014-16, and that Trump may have threatened to withhold financial aid unless such an investigation was conducted.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the call, and on Tuesday he ordered the release of an unredacted transcript of the conversation. Biden has also denied any wrongdoing relating to his discussions with Ukraine officials while his son was serving on the board of a private Ukraine gas company.

The phone call also generated a whistleblower complaint, and congressional Democrats have been pushing, to no avail, to have the Trump Administration turn over a copy of that complaint.

Biden on Tuesday said if Trump stonewalls Congress in its requests for information, the House will have no choice but to move forward with impeachment proceedings.

"The allegation that he blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved aid to another country unless it agreed to smear his political opponent is not the conduct of an American president," Biden said. "... It's an abuse of power. It undermines our national security. It violates the oath of office. And it strikes at the heart of the sworn responsibility the president has to put the national interest before his personal interest."

The new poll conducted for the Times shows Warren has started separating herself from her rivals. She’s the first choice of 29% of likely Democratic primary voters, a huge jump up from 18% in June, according to the poll. Biden, on the other hand, has remained stuck at 20%, only slightly different from his position in June.

Biden is expected to remain in the Los Angeles area until Thursday before traveling to Nevada on Friday. No details were immediately released about Biden's plans in the area on Thursday.

City News Service contributed to this post