House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan declined an offer from the whistleblower’s lawyer to provide written answers to questions submitted by House Republicans.
Mark Zaid, the whistleblower’s lawyer, told House Intelligence Committee ranking Republican Devin Nunes on Saturday that his client would be willing to answer questions from the Republicans in an effort to be as bipartisan as possible while remaining anonymous. Zaid offered for those questions to be “in writing, under oath and penalty of perjury.”
Jordan claimed Sunday that, “Written answers will not provide a sufficient opportunity to probe all the relevant facts and cross examine the so-called Whistleblower. 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.”
Congressman Jordan’s statement highlights his misunderstanding of fed WBer laws & protections. Notwithstanding WBer’s offer to rise above partisanship, he responds w/deliberate deflection & disinformation. https://t.co/uwkGn6C8Ao
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) November 4, 2019
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy appeared unaware of the offer for written answers when he was asked by Margaret Brennan on CBS’s Face The Nation Sunday morning.
Zaid, in response to Jordan’s declination, argued that the Ohio congressman has a “misunderstanding of [federal whistleblower] laws and protections” and accused him of responding with “deliberate deflection and disinformation.”
Both President Trump and several GOP members have called for the identity of the whistleblower to be revealed.
