Trump whistleblower to to testify "very soon" says House Intel Committee Chair
The head of the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, which is investigating the president, said that he expects the whistleblower at the heart probe to testify quote “very soon.”
“Now, we are taking all the precautions we can to make sure that we do so, we allow that testimony to go forward in a way to protect the whistleblower's identity,“ said California Democrat Adam Schiff.
House Democrats are planning a rapid start to their push for impeachment of President Donald Trump, who they accuse of abusing his power, with hearings and depositions starting this week.
“This president has betrayed our country and we have to make sure that the public really grasp the serious nature of this,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who district includes Oakland. “I think it's up to their constituents and believe you-me, their constituents know what's taking place and I think we have to see this not in a political context. This is a constitutional crisis, really and we need to step up. We need to do our job and republicans and democrats need to work together. No one is above the law.”
60 Minutes on Sunday reported the whistleblower who inform lawmakers of the president’s phone call to Ukraine’s leader about Joe Biden son is now under federal protection because he or she fears for their safety.
During the phone call, President Trump appears to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to look into Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son in exchange.
Revelation of the phone call allowed the Democratic Party to do what the Russian investigation was unable: launch impeachment proceedings to President Trump.
“Unlike many of the accusations against the president, this one’s a little easier to understand basically he appears to be outsourcing opposition research to a foreign government, which is impermissible and also he appears to be covering it up by locking down the transcript,” said Stephen Woolpert PH.D., a professor of politics at Saint Mary’s College.
The elder Biden, who is seeking the Democratic nomination of the party, regularly leads Mr. Trump is polls of likely voters.
Trump's allies erupted in a surge of second-guessing and conspiracy theorizing on the Sunday morning talk show circuit, and they insisted that the president committed no crime.
"A partisan hit-job does not make you a whistleblower," said Stephen Miller, Senior Trump Advisor. ”I don't know who the individual is. All I know is that at some point Chris, we have to focus on the real scandal. Which is three years of deep-state sabotage.”
With Biden still leading on polls at the democratic front runner for the party’s nomination, there are those who insist that the motive from the administration is the first major opening salvo in the 2020 presidential election.
“With Biden, his poll numbers are consistently showing he’s way above Trump. The tactical advantage of raising the relationship of Biden and his son to the Ukraine is to now raise this issue to make it the campaign issue,” said James Taylor, a political science professor at the University of San Francisco.
In a series of tweets tonight, president trump said he deserved to meet his accuser as well as whoever provided the whistleblower with what the president called "largely incorrect" information.
There remains a stark partisan divide on the issue with 88-percent of democrats approving and 93-percent of republicans disapproving of the inquiry.
For democrats in battleground districts, this remains a tricky balancing act of protecting political gains from 20-18 while selling voters on this probe into the president.