Attorneys for the whistleblower whose complaint launched an impeachment proceeding into President Trump are open to taking questions from Republicans in the manner their client came forward: anonymously.
An invitation by the whistleblower’s legal team for lawmakers to submit written questions was rejected Monday by Trump and some Republican leaders, who say the whistleblower should be interviewed in person. Scorn from the White House and leading lawmakers has the whistleblower’s lawyers entertaining taking questions without names attached if they represent Republican consensus.
“I don’t think we have any opinion on who claims authorship to the questions. We have never specified that this was a requirement,” said Mark Zaid, who represents the whistleblower alongside attorney Andrew Bakaj.
Even anonymity is unlikely to sway Republicans to submit questions, however. A Republican aide close to the inquiry told the Washington Examiner that “Republicans want to interview the whistleblower in person, just like all the other witnesses.”
Zaid said he had not heard directly from any Republican lawmaker since making the initial offer of written questions Saturday and said that although he’s open to anonymous questions, that doesn’t mean a free-for-all.
“We would consider that an option if it reflected the official GOP submission. We are not going to entertain scattershot questions from individual anonymous members,” Zaid said.
Zaid on Saturday invited Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Intelligence committees to submit written questions. The House committee is interviewing impeachment investigation witnesses.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff initially planned to call the whistleblower to testify, but has since expressed concern about their safety as Trump and his allies seek to out the whistleblower.
Democrats, who are likely to impeach Trump before Christmas, have pointed to recent depositions by senior diplomats and current and former White House officials. They argue the whistleblower is no longer relevant. But Republicans want to press the whistleblower on possible bias against Trump and contact with Schiff’s staff before filing a complaint on Aug. 12.
The benefits of in-person depositions include allowing for judgments about the person’s honesty, with cross-examination giving an opportunity to drill down on points of contention.
“It’s hard to see why the main witness who kickstarted this whole thing should be exempt from direct cross-examination,” the Republican aide said. “In fact, the whistleblower is the most important person out of all of them to cross-examine, along with Schiff himself, so people can finally discover the real extent of their secret coordination.”
On Monday, Trump tweeted: “The Whistleblower gave false information & dealt with corrupt politician Schiff. He must be brought forward to testify. Written answers not acceptable!”
The Whistleblower gave false information & dealt with corrupt politician Schiff. He must be brought forward to testify. Written answers not acceptable! Where is the 2nd Whistleblower? He disappeared after I released the transcript. Does he even exist? Where is the informant? Con!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2019
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, wrote in a statement on Sunday: “You don’t get to ignite an impeachment effort and never account for your actions and role in orchestrating it. We have serious questions about this individual’s political bias and partisan motivations and it seems Mark Zaid and Adam Schiff are attempting to hide these facts from public scrutiny.”
If he ever appeared for questioning, Republicans likely would press the whistleblower on specific apparent errors in the initial complaint, such as the identity of U.S. officials on the call, and whether the transcript contained sensitive information that would warrant storing it in a more secure and less accessible computer system.
In a Sunday tweet, Zaid presented the offer for written testimony as magnanimous, noting that Democrats had passed rules that mean Republicans cannot force the testimony of witnesses in the impeachment process.
4/We offered HPSCI (& SSCI), both Majority & Minority, to have #whistleblower answer questions in writing, under oath & penalty of perjury. Obviously, per House rules GOP is beholden to DEMs.
We, however, are not.
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) November 3, 2019
Zaid told the Washington Examiner that “we have no expectations at this time, but the offer is still open to the [Democrats] as well.”
