GOP Rep. Conaway says whistleblower must be identified to level the playing field 'between our 2 teams'


Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) shared his grievances with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during Tuesday's public hearing, saying it upsets him when Schiff accuses Republicans of trying to out the whistleblower whose complaint about President Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparked the impeachment inquiry.
It is "unfair for you to make that accusation," Conaway told Schiff. The whistleblower does not deserve an "absolute right" to anonymity, he added, and Republicans must know this person's identity. "This is about leveling the playing field between our two teams," Conaway said. "Your team knows the whistleblower, they have intimate knowledge of who he or she is."
Conaway also brought up a letter Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent to colleagues on Sept. 22, in which she discussed the whistleblower speaking to Congress. Schiff responded by saying he was happy to enter into the record the statute that allows whistleblowers to remain anonymous and Rep. Devin Nunes' (R-Calif.) past remarks about the importance of providing anonymity to whistleblowers.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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