Impeachment Whistleblower Agrees to Answer Republican Questions

The lawyer for the whistleblower whose serious concerns about the Trump – Ukraine telephone call which set off the House impeachment probe says his client has agreed to answer written questions from Republicans.Attorney Mark Zaid tweeted Sunday that the whistleblower will answer questions from House Republicans “in writing, under oath and penalty of perjury.”Zaid added that the only questions he or she will refuse to answer concern identity.Zaid said some Republicans have “sought to expose our client’s identity which could jeopardize their safety as well as that of their family…being a whistleblower is not a partisan job or is impeachment an objective. This is not our role.”Zaid made his offer to Representative Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee — one of the panels that has been hearing testimony in the impeachment inquiry. Nunes has yet to reply.FILE – Then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend an NCAA basketball game between Georgetown University and Duke University in Washington, Jan. 30, 2010.News reports say the whistleblower is a Central Intelligence Agency official who had worked in the White House. That person was disturbed by Trump’s July 25th telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump urged Zelenskiy to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for alleged corruption, and his son Hunter Biden, who worked for a Ukrainian gas company.The whistleblower reported his or her concerns to the intelligence community inspector general. Although this person gave a second-hand account of the Trump phone call, witnesses who heard the call directly have verified the whistleblower’s account.  Despite laws protecting government whistleblowers, Trump demanded again Sunday that the whistleblower be revealed.”The Whistleblower got it sooo wrong that HE must come forward,” Trump tweeted. “The Fake News Media knows who he is but, being an arm of the Democrat Party, don’t want to reveal him because there would be hell to pay,” Trump said. “Reveal the Whistleblower and end the Impeachment Hoax!”Trump insists he does not know who the whistleblower is, although he keeps referring to that person as “he” and says it’s an “Obama guy.”
Democrats, Republicans Dig In Ahead of Public Hearings for Trump Impeachment Probe video player.
FILE – Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Oct. 23, 2019.No evidence of wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden has ever surfaced.Trump also says it was Ukraine, not Russia, which interfered in the 2016 U.S. election on behalf of Democrats. That assertion is based on a debunked conspiracy theory and U.S. intelligence has concluded it was Russia that meddled in the election to try to get Trump elected.The House impeachment inquiry continues this week with the committees scheduled to hear from four more witnesses Monday. Ken Bredemeier contributeds to this report.
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