Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York admitted there is a strong possibility that House Democrats will end up calling some witnesses requested by their Republican counterparts in the impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
Joining Fox News Sunday, Maloney, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, predicted that his colleagues would likely call those on a list from Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California to testify in public impeachment hearings next week.
“I can’t speak for the chairman, but I think we will end up calling some of the witnesses on that list and here’s my test: Do these witnesses have important … knowledge or evidence about the president’s conduct?” he said.
However, he added that some of the witnesses requested would not pass that test, including former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, former Fusion GPS independent contractor Nellie Ohr, and the whistleblower whose complaint is at the center of impeachment. Maloney argued that the whistleblower’s identity must remain anonymous and questioned “what information would Hunter Biden have” on Trump’s July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine.
“He has no knowledge of what the president did or didn’t do … there are certainly questions, but it isn’t relevant to this week’s hearing,” he said.
Maloney added that “there are witnesses on the Republican list who have been interviewed in depositions already,” such as former Ambassador to Ukraine Kurt Volker and top White House Ukraine aide Tim Morrison, and said he expects them to also testify publicly.
On Saturday, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee sent a letter Chairman Adam Schiff requesting a slew of witnesses in next week’s public impeachment hearings, including both Hunter Biden and the whistleblower. Schiff later signaled that he would reject the request, calling it a “sham.”
