Republicans intend to subpoena the whistleblower at the center of the impeachment effort against President Trump.
Rep. Jim Jordan said that Republicans will attempt to get the whistleblower to testify before Congress in a public hearing.
It is unlikely that the whistleblower will testify as Democrats control the House and have veto power over subpoena requests for witness testimony.
Several House Republicans have called on the whistleblower to testify as part of the investigations into Trump’s relationship with Ukraine and his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The whistleblower complaint alleges that Trump may have improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s ties to a Ukrainian energy company.
Some Republicans, including Trump, have called for the identity of the whistleblower, who is allegedly career CIA analyst Eric Ciaramella, to be revealed.
Ciaramella, 33, was Ukraine director on the National Security Council during the end of the Obama administration and remained there during the early months of the Trump administration when he was briefly acting senior director for European and Russian affairs.
On Oct. 7, the Washington Examiner reported that Ciaramella is now a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council, reporting to the director of national intelligence.
Asked whether Ciaramella was the whistleblower, attorneys representing him told the Washington Examiner they would not comment on their client’s identity.
“We neither confirm nor deny the identity of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower,” attorneys Mark Zaid and Andrew Bakaj said.
Public impeachment testimony will begin on Wednesday with William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Jordan’s office but did not immediately receive a response.
This is a breaking story, check back for updates.
