Republican Georgia Rep. Doug Collins listed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as the top witness he wanted to question as impeachment moves before the Judiciary Committee.
Collins, 53, discussed whom he would like to question as part of the impeachment hearings when the House Judiciary Committee takes over the proceedings from the House Intelligence Committee as soon as next week. As ranking member, Collins can request testimony from witnesses, but Chairman Jerrold Nadler will have final say over who testifies.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Collins said his number one request will be that Schiff testifies about his knowledge of the whistleblower whose complaint laid the foundation for the House’s impeachment investigation.
“The first and foremost, the first person that needs to testify is Adam Schiff. Adam Schiff is the author of this report. Adam Schiff has been the author of many things, a lot of them found to be false over the past couple of years but he’s gonna be the author of the report,” Collins explained, later adding, “My first and foremost witness in Adam Schiff.”
Collins said Schiff needs to be cross-examined by Republicans in order to confirm his findings in the report and to get to the bottom of his ties to the whistleblower.
“He’s put himself into that position. If he chooses not to then I really question his veracity and what he’s putting in his report. I question the motives of why he’s doing it. It is easy to hide behind a report,” Collins said. “It’s easy to hide behind a gavel and Intelligence Committee behind closed-door hearings, but it’s going to be another thing to actually get up and have to answer questions about what his staff knew, how he knew, what he knew about the whistleblower report, his interactions he’s had with Ukraine, the other things that he’s had over time in this process.”
Schiff’s connection to the whistleblower has driven a lot of Republican skepticism. His office was in contact with the whistleblower before the report was even filed. Additionally, alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella was said to have had a “bro-like” relationship with one of Schiff’s closest aides.
Ciaramella, a 33-year-old career CIA analyst, was the Ukraine director on the National Security Council during the Obama administration and briefly worked as acting senior director for European and Russian affairs under the Trump administration. The Washington Examiner reported that he currently works as a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council.
He had a close relationship with many in the Obama administration, including former Vice President Joe Biden. The two attended a State Department banquet together in 2016.
It has not been confirmed that Ciaramella is the whistleblower.
Schiff has repeatedly denied that he knows who the whistleblower is and has worked very hard to keep the confirmed identity of the whistleblower private. The full list of witnesses Republicans want to testify has not been released. Nadler gave the minority party until Dec. 6 to provide such a list. From there, he will decide who will be allowed to testify.
