Whistleblower willing to answer Republicans' questions in impeachment probe, lawyer says

[groundloop]

Source: CBS News

Washington — A lawyer for the whistleblower who reported concerns about the president's dealings with Ukraine told CBS News he offered to have Republicans on the House Intelligence Community submit questions to his client directly without having to go through the committee's Democratic majority.

Attorney Mark Zaid told CBS News he contacted Representative Devin Nunes, the committee's ranking member, on Saturday to say his client is willing to answer Republicans' questions under oath and penalty of perjury if lawmakers submitted written questions to the whistleblower's legal team. The inspector general of the intelligence community, a Trump appointee, could verify the whistleblower's identity in order to satisfy the committee's minority members while protecting the individual's anonymity.

Nunes' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zaid said the offer underscores his client's desire to ensure his complaint is handled in a nonpartisan way.

Previously, the whistleblower had offered to answer questions under oath and in writing if submitted by the House Intelligence Committee as a whole. This new offer would be a direct channel of communication with the Republicans who are in the minority on that committee. Republican leadership has complained that the process is unfair and overly restrictive on their ability to question witnesses.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/impeachment-inquiry-whistleblower-willing-to-answer-questions-from-republicans-lawyer-mark-zaid-says/

---

Fuck the repubs, and especially Devin Nunes. Why should repubs get special consideration, it's the House Intelligence Committee that's conducting the investigation and there are repubs on that committee.

[riversedge]

1. This is odd to say the least. Wonder why only the gop??

[groundloop]

2. Exactly. Let the gopers on the committee do their job.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Doesn't necessary preclude Dems too, does it?

[matt819]

3. Sorry, whistleblower

We greatly appreciate what you’ve done. I’d like to think I would have done the same we’re i in your position. But you don’t get to set the terms. Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Schiff do

They said, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is a Pelosi ploy.

[KentuckyWoman]

9. It does put a stop to the pissing and moaning coming from the right.

[Skittles]

27. um......nothing will stop that

[KentuckyWoman]

28. Yeah. Point given

As I hit the post button my brain said.. that was a stupid thing to say.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

18. Sounds particularly partisan

[tblue37]

4. He is destroying the Republican claims that they aren't getting a fair chance to question

him because the Dems control the proceedings. Offering this method, he undercuts their claims while also preventing them from using the questioning process to out him and thus endanger him.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. THIS

The lawyer is taking away more talking points just like the resolution of rules for the upcoming public phase of the impeachment inquiry took away a different set of talking points.

And just like the GOP's rejection and whining when given what they "claimed" they wanted regarding the hearings, they will probably reject this too, exposing how disingenuous they are and confirming exactly WHAT they REALLY want - to generate a shit-show on television with their lunatic ranting and raving about idiotic conspiracy theories.

[KPN]

10. Exactly ...imo. nt

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

5. Nunes will reject the offer unless it contains the whisleblower's name.

Once they have that, the RW can sic its attack dogs - e.g., Mark Levin and Hannity - on him, in an effort to destroy his reputation and credibility, like they're doing with Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who is able to provide a first hand account of Fat Donnie's conversation with the president of Ukraine.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. Fortunately little Devin Nonuts does not have veto power.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. Nunes has already leaked the WB's identity

[gab13by13]

8. I like it,

The whistleblower is calling Republican's bluff. What do you want to bet Repubs back down? Repubs don't have any legitimate questions they want to ask.

[Beartracks]

14. Ikr? The Repubs are NOT shut out of the process. This is just GOP theater. n/t

[LiberalLovinLug]

20. That was not my argument, it is the opposite.

In fact you made my point. They are NOT shut out, yet they use a theatrical ruse that they ARE being shut out.

My point being..give them an inch and they'll just move in and at the same time complain we took AWAY a foot.

So why go out of our way to make things extra fair for them? You just know that every advantage we give them they will use not to find the truth, but to use their time and privileges to further muddy things with conspiracy theories and counter attacks. More of the same they go low so we will go extra high for them. (So they will finally acknowledge our niceness, and they will also be nice back)

[Beartracks]

22. Wait - I was agreeing with you.

======

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. Yes I realized that too late

I deleted my post. But I guess it didn't take.
Sorry, not too quick on the uptake for internet abbreviations (IKR). So I thought you were trying to correct me.

Have a great rest of the day

[Beartracks]

12. Nunes is a snowflake demanding special treatment. n/t

[TeamPooka]

13. calls the GOP bluff. They don't want to ask him questions. They know the answers. They want to whine

and complain about process.
this takes that away.

[dweller]

17. exactly the reaction from mccarthy this morning on face the nation

when Brennen posed it to him, after allowing him to whine for 10 minutes how unfair ! everything was with inquiry ... she told him about WB's offer, he said he knew nothing about it... she said nunez had the offer, he denied knowledge again ...
when asked if he would accept the offer, he went back to whining ... unfair the whole process, and never answered the question

✌🏼

[crickets]

15. It's a generous offer.

The problem is that it won't matter, because the GOP goalposts have wings and will never land, regardless of any offer like this. As another poster pointed out above, they want the name. They want it badly, because without it their attack dogs can't ad hominem the facts out of the way.

[Corgigal]

21. Brave civil servant

Ok, republicans, do you really want to go there?

Cowards.

[jpak]

24. They will complain about this too

Just wait

[JohnnyRingo]

25. First question from a repub...

"How dare you try to overthrow the US government?" "You make me sick to my stomach!"

Apparently the WB never saw a republican at a bipartisan hearing.

[Kurt V.]

26. ut oh. Mueller 2.0