The GOP Just Released Its Own Witness List for Impeachment Inquiries--It's All About Biden & Clinton

[TheBlackAdder]

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House Republicans released a wish list Saturday morning of witnesses they’d like to see testify when Congress holds its first public hearings on President Donald Trump’s “perfect” call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelinsky next week. Not surprisingly, most of them have nothing to do with the impropriety of the call itself.

House Democrats control the impeachment inquiry process but asked for Republican input on potential witnesses last week. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the highest-ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee that will be leading the public impeachment inquiry, sent the list to Democratic chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), along with a lengthy letter complaining about the unfairness of the inquiry to Trump. Nunes, who has long been one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, described the process thus far as “opaque and unfair,” writing, “Your actions have great damaged the integrity of the Intelligence Committee and any legitimacy of your ‘impeachment inquiry.”

While House Democrats have said they want to hear from key diplomatic personnel who may have been involved with the quid pro quo arrangement, in which Trump tried to use the threat of withholding American support for the beleaguered nation in its ongoing dispute with Russia in exchange for the Ukrainian president promising to investigate the son of former vice president Joe Biden. After initially objecting to the notion that there was such an arrangement, the GOP has now more or less acknowledged it occurred but insists that it was not improper. Nunes’ proposed witness list seems designed mostly to make the case against Hunter Biden and, of course, Hillary Clinton.

Most noteworthy on the list is the anonymous whistleblower whose concern after hearing Trump pressure Zelensky pushed Democrats into pursuing a possible impeachment. The whistleblower might make an obvious witness, given all he knows about the phone call, but Nunes’ reasoning is in keeping with the general Republican talking points in defending Trump. He states the president should be “afforded an opportunity to confront his accusers”—an allusion to the Sixth Amendment, which covers criminal prosecutions and not impeachment inquiries. Nunes also cites the whistleblower’s alleged “bias” against the president, the evidence of which is apparently that he is a registered Democrat (his attorney denies any political bias). Rather than grilling the whistleblower on Trump’s actions, Nunes’ main interest seems to be changing the subject.


https://www.motherjones.com/impeachment/2019/11/the-gop-just-released-its-own-witness-list-for-impeachment-inquiries-and-its-all-about-biden-and-clinton/

Did this come as a surprise? Well, yes. Obama wasn't mentioned.

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[RainCaster]

1. They left out Haleys Comet

Her emails!



Bengahzi!



Witch hunt!

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Whataboutism at its worst

Wanna bet the corporate media devote an inordinate amount of coverage to red herrings?

[vlyons]

3. The resolution passed last week on the public hearings

specifically stated that Republicans must put in writing the relevance of any witnesses they wished to call. I am so fed up with these stupid depraed Republicans. I hope Schiff bitch slaps Nunez silly.

[Sheppard Pie]

4. Schiff tells GOP to Pound Sand, just in a nicer way

Link to tweet