Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) should call the person who filed a complaint against President Donald Trump to testify.
The so-called whistleblower passed on secondhand information and details from media reports in the complaint, which largely focused on Trumps July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The call transcript was released by the White House shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
Trump asked Zelensky to look into former Vice President Joe Bidens actions in the country, as well as Bidens son Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma for five years until earlier this year. The transcript doesnt show Trump pressuring Zelensky or offering anything in exchange.
Schiff initially said the whistleblower would testify to Congress but backed away from that assertion over the weekend.
“Given that we already have the call record, we dont need the whistleblower, who wasnt on the call, to tell us what took place during the call,” Schiff said. “We have the best evidence of that.”
Meadows said late Oct. 15 that Schiff must call the whistleblower to testify, accusing the House Intelligence chairman of avoiding bringing people in for depositions who might present evidence he doesnt want to hear.
“[Rep.] Jim [Jordan] and I have been now in over 40 hours of deposition and what were finding is that Adam Schiff only wants to have witnesses who will give the response that he hopes they will give—and even at that its a swing and a miss,” Meadows said during an appearance on Fox Newss “Hannity.”
Reports emerged earlier this month indicating Schiffs committee had contact with the person who filed the complaint before the complaint was filed, leading to Schiff twice expressing regret for saying in mid-September, “We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower.”
