Top House Republicans on the Intelligence Committee sent a formal letter to Chairman Adam Schiff demanding the impeachment proceedings include closed-door testimony from the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint launched the investigation, and Hunter Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden.
“The whistleblower testimony is necessary for full and fair understanding of all relevant facts,” Reps. Devin Nunes of California and Jim Jordan of Ohio, wrote to Schiff Wednesday.
House Republicans, in the minority, have limited ability to compel witnesses to testify. Their requests require approval from the Democratic majority via Schiff, from California, who has already rejected summoning the whistleblower or Biden as public witnesses.
Nunes and Jordan told Schiff they plan to try to subpoena Hunter Biden and the whistleblower “for sworn testimony in closed-door depositions,” and they also plan to push for documents related to the whistleblower’s communications ahead of a complaint against the president filed with the inspector general of the Intelligence Community.
Nunes and Jordan said they would also try to subpoena records related to Hunter Biden’s paid position on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, as well as the Democratic National Committee for documents related to allegations they worked with Ukrainian government officials to dig up negative information about Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Hunter Biden became a central figure in the impeachment proceedings because President Trump demanded Ukraine government officials investigate Biden’s effort to oust a prosecutor who was targeting Burisma.
Nunes and Jordan said the whistleblower is reported to have a “political bias” against Trump and that media reports “suggest that the whistleblower worked closely with former Vice President Joe Biden.”
They also cited discrepancies in the complaint.
“For this reason, we must assess the whistleblower’s credibility and the sources he or she utilized to develop the anonymous complaint.”
