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Nunes, R-CA, spoke to this reporter for Monday's podcast. He revealed that transcripts of Atkinson's secret testimony will expose that the Inspector General either lied or he needs to make corrections to his statements to lawmakers. The transcripts has been kept from the public by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-CA, because it is damaging to their "impeachment scam," Nunes said.
The whistleblower, who has not been formally named by lawmakers, met with Schiff's staff members prior to submitting their complaint to Atkinson. Schiff was chided by Republican lawmakers and many members of the media for falsely claiming that his committee had no contact with the whistleblower. Rep. Nunes:
"(Atkinson) is under active investigation. I'm not gonna go any farther than that because you know obviously he has a chance to come in and prove his innocence, but my guess is Schiff, Atkinson they don't want that transcript out because it's very damaging."The Schiff Factor
Schiff stated publicly "we have not spoken directly with the whistleblower." In fact, the whistleblower had reached out to a committee aide before filing a complaint, a story that was first reported by the New York Times.
Nunes told The Sara Carter Show:
"We really do need to hear from the whistleblower. That needs to happen and the fact that the Democrats won't release the transcript of us interviewing the Inspector General Atkinson that brought this scam forward. Everyone needs to see that testimony and the reason that it's not being released is because it's very damaging, not only to the whistleblower, but also to Atkinson himself."Nunes could not disclose the content of the whistleblower testimony but said "this testimony is really bad and...the Republicans have an active investigation into Atkinson."
Nunes noted that he, along with Reps. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Atkinson stating that the anti-Trump whistleblower did not offer any direct, first-hand evidence of alleged wrongdoing against Trump. They questioned Atkinson's reasoning for accepting the complaint that is filled with hearsay and rumor.
Atkinson Doesn't Want To Answer Questions
The Republican lawmakers asked Atkinson to explain who revised the complaint and for what reason.
"We've mentioned it, but I think people have just kind of ignored it because, of course, we don't have the subpoena power, so we can't bring Atkinson back in but he's got serious questions to answer for because I believe that he either lied to Congress or he really needs to correct his statements and he's refused to respond."Nunes, who could not elaborate on Atkinson's testimony, said that Atkinson's response to their letter was not sufficient. Nunes said Atkinson
"gave us a very typical IC response, which is to not answer the question. Three years ago, that might've worked. It doesn't work with us anymore. He is under active investigation. I'm not gonna go any farther than that because you know obviously he has a chance to come in and prove his innocence, but my guess is Schiff, Atkinson they don't want that transcript out because it's very damaging."Well, this reporter is asking for it and it should be made public. American's have a right to know exactly how the whistleblower complaint was brought to Congress and how this alleged complaint led to the partisan House impeachment of President Trump.
"Being that it hasn't been made public yet, why would it not be?
"And nobody in the media is calling for it. You'd think they would be, but you know I've talked about it on television, John Ratcliffe's talked about it on television. There's very few of us that actually know what's in the transcript, but, yeah, it's a major problem."
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