Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe attempted to question House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff at the first public impeachment hearing about when his staff first had contact with the Ukranian whistleblower.
Ratcliffe and House Republican colleagues want to tease out that point to undermine Democrats’ case against President Trump. They say it points to a partisan conspiracy by government bureaucrats to oust Trump from office.
While questioning Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor on Wednesday, Ratcliffe confirmed with Taylor whether he thought no pressure, no demand, no conditions, no blackmail, no corruption, or a quid pro quo existed on the July 25 call between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Trump.
“Do you have an explanation for why within days of that phone call when no quid pro quo was even possible? A person who later became a whistleblower walked into Chairman Schiff’s staff to discuss what Chairman Schiff’s spokesman Patrick Boland said were the, quote, outlines of the whistleblower’s accusations?” Ratcliffe asked.
At this point, Ratcliffe looked over at Schiff and went on to ask the California Democrat if he was interested in engaging in a colloquy. The chairman pointedly declined.
“My colleague will address his questions to the witnesses,” Schiff responded.
“I’ll take that as a no. You’re not interested in a colloquy,” Ratcliffe said.
Schiff replied, “Mr. Ratcliffe, you could take it anyway you like it, but appropriately, your question should be directed to the witnesses.”
