Politics

Rep. Louie Gohmert names alleged Trump whistleblower during impeachment hearing

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert dropped the name of the alleged whistleblower whose complaint sparked the Trump impeachment probe in a nationally televised House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday night.

The Texas lawmaker said the name during his opening statement in day one of the committee’s two-day marathon session to debate possible “markups,” or amendments to the two articles of impeachment brought against President Trump.

Gohmert incorporated the alleged whistleblower’s name into a grouping of “fact witnesses” he claimed House Democrats have blocked from testifying in front of the committees carrying out the impeachment probe.

“They don’t want fact witnesses,” said Gohmert. “Let’s hear from professors who hate Donald Trump,” he said, referring to last week’s House Judiciary Committee hearing that featured a panel of four constitutional scholars.

On Tuesday, the House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against Trump for his dealings in Ukraine, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Democrats say Trump abused the power of his office when he withheld nearly $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine to pressure its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to probe a political rival of Trump’s.

Wednesday night’s hearing was expected to consist mainly of opening statements from the panel’s members, before the markup resumes at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Democratic chair of the committee, kicked off Wednesday’s debate saying, “This committee now owes it to the American people to give these articles careful attention.”

“We cannot rely on an election to solve our problems, when the president threatens the very integrity of that election,” Nadler said.

Republicans, meanwhile, have argued the process is just a means to prevent Trump from a potential re-election.

Most Republicans claim Trump has done nothing wrong, and are expected to vote against the articles.

Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the committee, shot back in his opening statement that Democrats think they only need a “32-second commercial saying we impeached him.”

“That’s the wrong reason to impeach somebody, and the American people are seeing through this,” Collins said. “But at the end of the day, my heart breaks for a committee that has trashed this institution.”

The Democrats are not expected to accept any amendments proposed by Republicans.

The House is expected to vote on the articles next week, in the days before Christmas.

Following their vote, the articles would head to the Senate for a 2020 trial.

With Post wires