House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Thursday that he will start releasing transcripts of impeachment testimony “as early as next week,” The New York Times reports.
Schiff revealed the plan to release transcripts on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time after he was pressed about reports that Republicans were not afforded equal time to question witnesses during hearings.
“Those arguments you’ve heard are almost completely false, with only one exception,” Schiff said. “And when you see the transcripts, and we expect to begin releasing them as early as next week, you’ll see that the Republicans have every bit as much time to ask questions.”
If the arguments are “almost completely false” with “one exception,” then Schiff is actually confirming what Republicans have been alleging. In at least one instance, it seems, Republicans were denied an opportunity to pursue a desired line of questioning with a witness.
Forced transparency
Repeated reports about Republicans being effectively hamstrung by Schiff in impeachment hearings have forced him to make the heretofore closed-door testimony public. His selective leaking isn’t working to change public opinion, so transparency is really the only remaining option.
Schiff blames Fox News for the fact that public opinion has not shifted against President Donald Trump as the impeachment investigation has unfolded.
“The main difference [between this impeachment inquiry and Watergate] is the President now has Fox prime time [programming],” he told Cuomo.
“Frankly, I think if Richard Nixon had had Fox prime time, he would have never been forced to leave office,” Schiff continued. “And that is what we’re up against. You know, an information environment in which you can live in a world devoid of facts.”
“I don’t want to prejudge”
Schiff wasn’t definitive about whether the current investigation would lead to impeachment or whether Trump would be removed from office by the Senate — an result that would require the support of 20 Republicans in the upper chamber.
“I don’t want to prejudge even what we decide in the House,” he said.
“We’re going to finish our investigation and the public testimony and then as a deliberative body and in consultation with our constituents and our conscience and make a decision on whether the remedy of impeachment is warranted,” the congressman added.
This represents a far different tone from Schiff’s public statements even going back to the Mueller investigation, during which Schiff virtually guaranteed that Trump would be impeached or even indicted for colluding with a foreign government and obstructing justice.
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