The day after the public impeachment inquiry hearings began on Capitol Hill, GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) held a press conference to share his thoughts on the day’s events and how he felt about some of the players involved.
He did not pull any punches, especially after being asked about House Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff (CA), who is leading the proceedings.
Schiff has told some whoppers since President Trump was inaugurated in hopes of convincing the American people that he’s unfit for office and deserves to be impeached. One of the biggest ones Schiff’s told recently is that his office had “not spoken directly with the whistleblower.”
It was that information McCarthy had in mind when he point blank told a reporter during the press conference that he believed Schiff was lying when he said he didn’t know the whistleblower’s identity:
McCarthy outlined several instances where he believed Schiff had lied—including during the congressional Russia probe and when he “on purpose” delivered a parody reading last month of the transcript of Trump’s now-infamous July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry.
[…]
McCarthy also said that Schiff “lied again” when he claimed during the public hearing on Wednesday that he “didn’t know who the whistleblower was.”
“His staff met with the whistleblower, he can claim he did not. They met with the whistleblower before the whistleblower had an attorney and before the whistleblower went to the inspector general,” McCarthy explained. “When he went, you know that the whistleblower did not say that he met with Schiff’s staff.”
Fox News reported last month that the whistleblower did not disclose contact with Schiff’s staff to the intelligence committee inspector general (ICIG).
Schiff’s office acknowledged that the whistleblower had reached out to them before filing a complaint in mid-August, giving Democrats advance warning of the accusations that would lead them to launch an impeachment inquiry days later.
When pressed on whether or not he was outright accusing Schiff of lying, McCarthy point blank said “Yes. And I don’t think it’s the first time he’s lied to us either.”
Watch:
.@GarrettHaake: "You just asserted…Adam Schiff either personally met with the whistleblower or knows the identity of the whistleblower, which he continues to deny…do you think he's lying?"
.@GOPLeader: "Yes. And, I don't think it's the first time he's lied to us either." pic.twitter.com/LQLwywQAOn
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 14, 2019
Day 3 of the witch hunt impeachment inquiry hearings is set to start around 9 a.m. Eastern time Friday. Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, is set to testify.
Related –>> He’s a Phony, He’s a Fake, and He’s a Liar’: Congressional Colleague Sounds Off on Adam Schiff
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 16+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
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