Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, during the first public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump’s efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Photo via AP)
As Bonchie wrote earlier today, week two of Impeachmentpalooza is well underway and there has been no shortage of high drama and theatrics on display already.
As per how things went down last week, the same rules apply this week as well: Democrats get to say and ask whatever they want while Republicans are continuously interrupted by circus ringmaster House Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Such was the case today when Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was questioning Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on whether or not he was a leaker:
When Jordan’s questioning turned to the identities of a number of people with whom Vindman has acknowledged discussing the phone call between Trump and Zelensky, Vindman clammed up — and, at the request of Vindman’s counsel, Schiff shut it down.
“Gentleman will suspend,” Schiff told Jordan.
“As I indicated before, this committee will not be used to out the whistleblower,” the Democrat continued.
It was at that moment that Jordan unloaded on Schiff, pointing out the elephant in the room that Schiff had accidentally unleashed earlier when Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) was questioning Vindman. Here’s what Jordan said directly to Schiff:
“Mr. Chairman, I don’t see how this is outing the whistleblower,” countered Jordan. “The witness has testified in his deposition that he doesn’t know who the whistleblower is.
“You have said — even though no one believes you — you have said you don’t know who the whistleblower is. So how is this outing the whistleblower?”
Watch video of Jordan cutting Schiff down to size below:
🔥JIM JORDAN NUKES SCHIFF ON LIVE TV 🔥
Jordan was asking about who was leaking national security information.
Schiff stops him to "protect the whistleblower"
Jordan to Schiff:
"You have said you don't know who the whistleblower is – even though no one believes you."
SAVAGE pic.twitter.com/sWgLZnnNKt
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 19, 2019
And to recap, here’s a similar exchange between Nunes and Schiff earlier (as documented by Brad Slager):
🚨🚨 Schiff just shut down Ranking Member @DevinNunes to advise one of his star witnesses on how to answer a question about the whistleblower.
But Schiff likes to claim he doesn't know who the whistleblower is… So then how would he know Nunes is asking about the whistleblower? pic.twitter.com/QT06yMcRC7
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) November 19, 2019
I think this is what is called a “gotcha” moment.
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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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