Ukraine Whistleblower Now Wants To Testify Before House Intel Committee, Schiff Says
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff said Tuesday that the intelligence official who reportedly filed a whistleblower complaint over President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky now wants to testify before lawmakers.
In recent days, Democrats have focused on the phone call, during which Trump allegedly pressured Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden.
Previous media accounts have said Biden pressured Ukraine to dismiss a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that paid Hunter Biden.
Calls for impeachment intensified after The Washington Post linked the call to a July decision to temporarily withhold about $400 million in aid to Ukraine.
The money was paid earlier this month.
But the as-of-yet-unidentified intelligence official reportedly mentioned the phone call in a whistleblower complaint to the intelligence community’s inspector general.
Now, the whistleblower appears ready to testify.
“We have been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so,” Schiff tweeted Tuesday.
We have been informed by the whistleblower’s counsel that their client would like to speak to our committee and has requested guidance from the Acting DNI as to how to do so.
We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 24, 2019
“We‘re in touch with counsel and look forward to the whistleblower’s testimony as soon as this week,” the California Democrat added.
Schiff’s announcement came just minutes after Trump said he planned to release the full transcript of his call with Zelensky.
“I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine,” the president tweeted.
I am currently at the United Nations representing our Country, but have authorized the release tomorrow of the complete, fully declassified and unredacted transcript of my phone conversation with President Zelensky of Ukraine….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
Trump suggested the full transcript would prove he did nothing wrong.
“You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call,” Trump said. “No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo!”
….You will see it was a very friendly and totally appropriate call. No pressure and, unlike Joe Biden and his son, NO quid pro quo! This is nothing more than a continuation of the Greatest and most Destructive Witch Hunt of all time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
In a statement last week, Schiff said intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson had deemed the whistleblower’s complaint “both credible and urgent.”
Atkinson met with Intelligence Committee lawmakers in a closed-door meeting Thursday morning. After the meeting, Schiff told reporters the Justice Department believes the material in the complaint is shielded via privilege and does not have to be shared with lawmakers, according to NPR.
Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has thus far refused to reveal the contents of the complaint to lawmakers, CNN reported.
But Maguire is set to testify before the Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
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