Echoing previous statements by President Donald Trump and other Republican allies, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham claimed that the Democrat-led impeachment investigation into the president is “invalid” unless and until the anonymous whistleblower who helped spark the probe is revealed and forced to testify.
According to Fox News , during an interview Sunday on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures , Graham blasted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, claiming he had no regard for the truth if the whistleblower remained a secret. Graham cried foul at the prospect, claiming it’s not fair that someone who filed such a complaint is not subject to examination.
“I consider any impeachment in the House that doesn’t allow us to know who the whistleblower is to be invalid because without the whistleblower complaint we wouldn’t be talking about any of this,” Graham said.
The anonymous whistleblower, who worked in the U.S. intelligence community, was essentially at the top of a list of requested testimonies by Republicans that was recently delivered to Schiff. The request was almost immediately rejected by Schiff, who has vowed to protect the whistleblower’s identity, even in the face of mounting Congressional pressure to reveal him or her.
Doubling down, Graham also explained that any efforts to impeach Trump that actually make it to the U.S. Senate would essentially be dismissed without knowing the identity of Trump’s accuser.
“It’s impossible to bring this case forward, in my view, fairly without us knowing who the whistleblower is and having a chance to cross-examine them about any biases they may have,” Graham said.
“So if they don’t call the whistleblower in the House, this thing is dead on arrival in the Senate.”
Graham also insisted that Schiff’s only motive for aggressively pursuing impeachment is to “destroy the Trump presidency.”
LINDSEY GRAHAM: “I consider any impeachment in the House that doesn’t allow us to know who the whistleblower is to be invalid … if they don’t call the whistleblower in the house, this thing is dead on arrival on the senate.” pic.twitter.com/oWsBYeheH6
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) November 10, 2019
While Republicans continue to label the process as unfair and not transparent enough, Democrats argue that making the whistleblower’s identity — at this point — wouldn’t further their case. They claim to already have surpassed any evidence of the whistleblower’s original complaint with more direct, first-hand knowledge of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, presumably thanks to a number of witnesses that have recently been interviewed by Democrats behind closed doors.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Graham took a page out of the president’s playbook with regard to the potential motives of the anonymous whistleblower, claiming he or she is an operative of the “deep state.”
The South Carolina senator claimed that when it’s all said and done, the American public will find out that Schiff allegedly had interactions with the whistleblower and that the process will “stink to high heaven.”
