Schiff Now Claims He Doesn't Know Whistleblower's Identity
The first public hearings of the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump took place on Wednesday, and it didn’t take long for partisan sparks to erupt.
Republicans on the committee requested a separate hearing involving the whistleblower whose complaint about President Trump’s July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president launched the whole charade of an inquiry, a request that unsurprisingly was denied by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
It was what the California Democrat said in response to the request, however, that provoked audible laughs of disbelief as he claimed to have no knowledge of the identity of the whistleblower — despite having previously acknowledged that his staff has met with that individual and repeatedly stating that he will keep the identity a secret.
The Daily Mail reported that Rep. Mike Conaway interrupted the first hour of the length hearing and said, “I seek to make a motion we subpoena the whistleblower for a closed-door deposition, so the questions appropriately asked of the whistleblower by our side and your side may be asked.”
The Texas Republican specifically requested that his motion be referred for a vote by the whole committee, rather than decided upon by just Schiff. The chairman replied, “It won’t be my single decision. We will entertain a motion to subpoena any witness after the witnesses have an opportunity to testify.”
Enter Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who is serving on the Intelligence Committee on an interim basis for the impeachment hearings due to his reputation for doggedly questioning witnesses and bringing forth answers that otherwise might not be forthcoming.
“Just to ask a clarifying question, do you anticipate when we might vote on the ability to have the whistleblower in front of us? Something you — of the 435 members of Congress, you are the only member who knows who that individual is,” Jordan said.
“And your staff is the only staff of any member of Congress who’s had a chance to talk with that individual. We would like that opportunity. When might that happen in this proceeding today?”
Schiff replied, “First, as the gentleman knows, that’s a false statement. I do not know the identity of the whistleblower and I’m determined to make sure that identity is protected.”
“But as I said to Mr. Conaway, you’ll have an opportunity after the witnesses testify to make a motion to subpoena any witness and compel a vote,” the chairman added.
Fox News reported, and other reporters in the room confirmed via Twitter, that several of the Republicans “laughed and sneered” or otherwise expressed their utter disbelief at the rather questionable statement by Schiff that he had no knowledge of who the whistleblower is.
The likelihood of Schiff being unaware of the identity of the whistleblower seems rather slim, given he himself has acknowledged that the individual made contact with his own staff prior to the complaint even being filed in the first place.
Furthermore, if Schiff has no idea who the whistleblower actually is, how can he purportedly protect that person’s identity and keep it from being mentioned or revealed by other members of Congress, as he has repeatedly stated previously and reiterated in his remarks today?
Over the course of this impeachment inquiry, Schiff has claimed to have had no contact with the whistleblower, then admitted his staff had made contact when called out on that. Now he is claiming to be the protector of that individual’s identity, even as he simultaneously claims not to know it.
It is highly likely that Schiff’s dishonesty in respect to that claim will be exposed right alongside with the identity of the whistleblower before too long.
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