Things reportedly got ugly during National Security Council official Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman’s deposition in the House impeachment investigation on Tuesday.
According to CNN, Democrats and Republicans got into a brawl over the identity of the whistleblower who had first triggered the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Five unknown sources told CNN the clash began when House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) accused his Republican colleagues of using the hearing to sniff out the whistleblower’s identity, a charge the Republicans denied.
That’s reportedly when Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) got into a shouting match, which snowballed as others jumped in.
During a break in the hearing, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) told CNN that Republicans were trying to wheedle Vindman into revealing the whistleblower’s identity, even though he had testified that he didn’t know who the whistleblower was.
“They are trying to, through the back door and through process of elimination by their questions, they are attempting to get him to reveal that, and they have been unsuccessful,” said Wasserman Schultz.
An anonymous GOP lawmaker didn’t deny the Democrats’ accusations in an interview with CNN.
“I think we would like to know — with whistleblower protections in mind — we would like to hear from the whistleblower and we would also like to know who the whistleblower talked to,” they said.
I’m guessing the whistle blower is actually John Barron.
Don’t give em an inch. Not an inch.
There is no way to pretty this up. Info pipelines straight from the GOP committee members (or staffers) to the WH (looking at Nunnes). Trump is th biggest blabbermouth in the WH so ya, the identity gets out tto the deplorables who are known for harassing Trump “enemies”.
And what is the point if not retribution towards the whistleblower, and to anyone who spoke to the whistleblower (and at that point the person wasn’t a whistleblower but a fellow worker in the WH - granted from the IC.)
This is about having a priorty of retribution and silencing, rather than learning about the facts of possible (likely - heck after the call summary - clear) abuse of power in violation of the constitution.
Not a good look GOP. Not going to help with independent voters who you need, in many districts, for reelection.
Too much complex and evaluative thought in the complaint to be JB. Though it is a hilarious “the call is coming from within the House” idea.
Exactly so. There are no protections of any kind when Repuglicans are involved; it’s reaction and revanche all the way down to their staff and followers.