Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) continues to demand that Senate Republicans allow him to call new witnesses — after he and House Democrats denied Republican request for new witnesses in their impeachment inquiry.
Yet what is equally galling is the fact that Schiff continues to ignore evidence presented by witnesses that he himself called to testify at the House Intelligence Committee — when it contradicts his case.
For example, Schiff presented the claim by U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland that there was a “quid pro quo” in which Ukraine would earn a White House meeting in exchange for announcing investigations. But Schiff did not note that Sondland later testified that he had no direct knowledge of, or proof of, such an arrangement, and that Trump had told him there was no quid pro quo. Schiff also left out other contrary evidence — such as the testimony of Ambassador Kurt Volker, the letter of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), or statements of numerous Ukrainian officials.
Schiff presented a statement by Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman that the word “Burisma” had been left out of the July 25 call transcript between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He left out the testimony of Vindman’s former boss, Tim Morrison, who said the word “Burisma” was not, in fact, excluded. Schiff also repeated a false claim that President Trump only cared about corruption in Ukraine when it involved his potential rival in the 2020 presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden — ignoring the fact that State Department official Catherine Croft testified in a closed-door hearing that Trump had raised the issue vigorously with Ukraine in a 2017 meeting.
It is not clear why the Senate should allow new witnesses when Schiff ignores those who have already testified.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.