Rep. Elise Stefanik Humiliates Schiff, Cites His Own Interviews About Whistleblower Testimony

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Friday, during the second day of a Democratic-led House impeachment inquiry, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) stood up to House Intel Chairman, Adam Schiff (D-CA), citing Schiff’s quotes from several news reports and television appearances–where Schiff said that the anonymous whistleblower would, in fact, testify before his panel. She also referred to the “abuse of power” in the proceedings by Schiff and the Democrats to support her assertion.

Schiff has since backtracked, and denied requests from Republicans for the whistleblower to come forward and testify, calling the potential testimony “redundant” and “unnecessary”.

“Since the Chairman has ‘gaveled out’ all of my colleagues with their unanimous consent, I am going to read for the record many of the chairman’s comments in September of the importance of hearing from the whistleblower,” Rep. Stefanik announced during her allotted time to question former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.

The New York Congresswoman then read aloud several publications that quoted Schiff’s own words when he paraded around television shows to announce the whistleblower would testify publicly.

“As we know, it’s import to protect whistleblowers from retaliation and firing, but in this case, the fact that we are getting criticized for statements he, himself, made earlier in the process shows the duplicity and just the ‘abuse of power’ we are continuing to see,” Rep. Stefanik explained.

The following are the news articles Rep. Elise Stefanik cited:

September 29, The Wall Stree Journal: Whistleblower Is Expected to Testify Soon, House Intelligence Chairman Schiff Says

September 29, USA Today: Whistleblower reaches agreement to testify, will appear ‘very soon,’ Rep. Adam Schiff says:

  • “Talking with ABC News ‘This Week,’ Schiff, the Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said the whistleblower would testify ‘very soon’ and the only thing standing in the way was getting security clearances for the attorneys representing the whistleblower so they could attend the testimony”.

September 29, VOX: Trump whistleblower will testify before the House Intelligence Committee “very soon”: “Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday the whistleblower at the center of a growing scandal surrounding President Donald Trump will testify before the House Intelligence Committee “very soon.” (Continued Below)

September 29, CNN: Schiff confirms tentative agreement for whistleblower to testify before House Intelligence Committee

  • “Schiff said Sunday on ABC as well as NBC’s “Meet the Press”, that he expects the whistleblower to testify “very soon.”

September 29, The Washington Post: Intelligence panel has deal to hear whistleblower’s testimony:

  • “In an appearance on ABC News’s “This Week,” Schiff (D-Calif.) echoed Pelosi’s message. He also said he expected the Intelligence Committee to hear from the whistleblower “very soon” pending a security clearance from acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire.

September 29, Huffington Post: Whistleblower Reportedly Agrees To Testify Before House Intelligence Committee

  • “Schiff told ABC’s “This Week” he expects the whistleblower to appear before this committee very soon.”

September 29, The New York Post: Schiff says whistleblower will appear before House panel

  • “We’ll get the unfiltered testimony of that whistleblower,” he told “This Week.”

September 29, The Washington Times: Rep. Adam Schiff, House intel panel to hear from whistleblower ‘very soon’

  • “That whistleblower will be allowed to come in.”

(Continued Below)

September 29, Talking Points Memo: Schiff Says Whistleblower’s ‘Unfiltered Testimony’ Will Be Held ‘Very Soon’

  • “Have you reached an agreement yet with the whistleblower and his or her attorneys about coming before the committee and providing the information firsthand?” asked “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos.
  • “Yes, we have,” Schiff responded. “And as [Director of National Intelligence] Maguire promised during the hearing, that whistleblower will be allowed to come in and come in without a minder from the Justice Department or from the White House to tell the whistleblower what they can and cannot say. We’ll get the unfiltered testimony of that whistleblower.”

September 29, Daily Kos: Adam Schiff expects whistleblower to testify ‘very soon’

  • “We’re ready to hear from the whistleblower as soon as that is done. And we’ll keep obviously riding shotgun to make sure that the acting director doesn’t delay in that clearance process.” Adam Schiff.

September 29 CNBC: House intel committee has reached an agreement for Trump-Ukraine whistleblower to testify ‘very soon,’ Schiff says

  • “We’ll get the unfiltered testimony of the whistleblower.” Adam Schiff.

September 29, Market Watch: Whistleblower to testify before Schiff committee

  • House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that an agreement has been reached under which the whistleblower will testify before the committee “very soon.”
We leave you with a tweet from President Donald Trump where he pokes fun at Schiff:

(Related: On Day Two, Schiff & Republicans Spar As The Public Hearing With Marie Yovanovitch Begins)