Schiff: There’s “No Reason To Call Me As A Witness”

Watch Adam Schiff's response when asked about testifying here for yourself:

The Washington Times has more to say:

House impeachment ringleader Rep. Adam B. Schiff on Sunday bucked President Trump’s calls for him to testify in a Senate trial, saying the very idea is frivolous.

                                                                                                                                                        

A Senate trial, which would follow a House impeachment of Mr. Trump, is looking all but inevitable, and calls are growing for testimony by Mr. Schiff, who would face questions about his role in orchestrating the whistleblower complaint that launched the inquiry.

                                                                                                                                                        

“If the Senate wants to call me as a witness, then they pretty much made the decision not to take this process seriously,” Mr. Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “All I can relate is what the witnesses said in deposition and in the open hearings, and that’s no reason to call me as a witness.”

                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                        

Mr. Schiff, California Democrat and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the evidence was “overwhelming” that Mr. Trump abused his power by trying to force Ukraine to investigate meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and political rival Joseph R. Biden and his son Hunter, which he described as an effort to help the president’s reelection campaign.

                                                                                                                                                        

Despite the strong rhetoric, Democratic leaders have not publicly committed to an impeachment vote.

Mr. Trump has laid out whom he would like to see featured when impeachment reaches “our turf,” he said in reference to the Republican-run Senate. His witness list also includes the anonymous whistleblower and both Bidens.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The White House is preparing for a Senate trial but isn’t entirely sure impeachment is a done deal in the House, said Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to the president.

                                                                                                                                                        

“We’re preparing for both eventualities,” she said on the CBS Sunday talk show “Face the Nation.”

                                                                                                                                                        

Mrs. Conway argued that front-line Democrats — particularly 31 from districts Mr. Trump won in 2016 — face a lot of pressure on impeachment, which has diverted Congress from priorities such as lowering prescription drug prices and approving a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

                                                                                                                                                                           

The Daily Caller also said:

Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday the Senate would have “no reason” to call him as a witness in any impeachment trial for President Donald Trump.

 

The House Intelligence Committee chairman told “Meet the Press” that if the Senate does ask him to testify it would mean they aren’t taking impeachment “seriously.”

 

“Look, if the Senate wants to call me as a witness, then they have pretty much made the decision not to take this process seriously. I’m not a fact witness. I was a chairman of one of the committees doing an investigation. I’m not in the shoes of a special counsel, I don’t work for the Justice Department. All I can relate is what the witnesses in the open hearings and that’s no reason to call me as a witness,” he said.

 

Republicans have called Schiff a fact witness and more, describing him as the “judge, jury and prosecutor” in the impeachment process. They have also alleged that he has met with the whistleblower who ignited the impeachment inquiry and that the congressman knew of his complaint before it became public.