NATIONWIDE — Over the weekend, President Donald Trump made it clear that he does not want the whistleblower just answering written questions; he wants this person's identity revealed.
- The president says the whistleblower has given false stories
- House committees are trying to figure out if Trump violated oath of office
- Get more political coverage here
"The whistleblower should be revealed because the whistleblower gave false stories. Some people would call it a fraud, I won't go that far," according to the president.
House committees are trying to determine whether Trump violated his oath of office by asking Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his family and to investigate the country’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
A lawyer for the whistleblower who raised alarms about Trump's dealings with Ukraine says his client has offered to answer written questions submitted by House Republicans.
The surprise offer was made to Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. It would allow Republicans to ask questions of the whistleblower, who spurred the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry, without having to go through the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff.
Attorney Mark Zaid tweeted Sunday that the whistleblower would answer questions directly from Republican members "in writing, under oath & penalty of perjury," part of a bid to stem escalating efforts by Trump and his GOP allies to unmask the person's identity. Only queries seeking the person's identity will not be answered, he said.
Nunes has not commented on the proposal. Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and member of the House Judiciary Committee who has been highly critical of the impeachment process, said in a statement that written answers would not be sufficient to probe and cross-examine the whistleblower.
In an interview with FOX News, Nunes said despite media reports that name the whistleblower, they do not know who it is, and there needs to be testimony that is more public so that it is not a case with no evidence.
"They don't want to let us call any witnesses. I doubt they're going to give us one of our witnesses. This is gonna be a show trial," he said.
And CNN is reporting that four White House officials will not be testifying on Monday, one will not because of executive privilege and the others would not be there because they cannot have a White House lawyer with them.
Despite that, House investigators say they are still getting ready for the next phase of the inquiry.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, told The Associated Press on Friday that the three committees leading the impeachment investigation plan to begin releasing transcripts of closed-door interviews as soon as early this week. The committees have interviewed current and former officials from the State Department and White House who have expressed concerns about Trump’s efforts to urge Ukraine to investigate Biden and his family.
The Associated Press contributed to the story.