Saying the could uncover “any number of potential crimes,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Thursday pledged his committee will ramp up its probe of President Trump’s phone call to his Ukrainian counterpart.
He said lawmakers would work through the upcoming recess as Democrats hope the investigation uncovers enough dirt to bolster their impeachment case.
Speaking just moments after acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before his panel, Mr. Schiff, California Democrat, said there are a number of allegations and witnesses that need to be tracked down.
“There is a whole host of people, apparently, who have knowledge of the events that the whistleblower makes reference to,” he said. “We don’t know how many of them have interviewed by the inspector general.”
Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community, conducted his own probe into the allegations raised about President Trump’s phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Mr. Schiff identified Attorney General William P. Barr and Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, as individuals the committee wanted to speak with. But he declined to say if he would subpoena either of them.
SEE ALSO: Trump slams Schiff as ‘pious,’ threatens court action against impeachment
President Trump offered the assistance of both Mr. Barr and Mr. Giuliani to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the event he were to open an investigation into the son of Democratic Presidential frontrunner Joseph R. Biden, according to a transcript of the July 25 phone call.
Mr. Barr has insisted he did not know his name was floated in the conversation until weeks later.
Nonetheless, Mr. Schiff said his committee would like to talk to the attorney general.
“We want to know what role Rudy Giuliani had in all of this. We what to know what role Bill Barr had in any of this. We want to know what Ukraine understood was expected of them before they even had this July 25 phone call with the president,” Mr. Schiff said.
When asked what he hoped to uncover, Mr. Schiff said there are a number of potential violations that could be revealed.
“I think there are any number of potential crimes when a president is soliciting for an assistance again in another presidential election,” he said.
While Mr. Schiff was speaking, Mr. Trump fired off a tweet attacking one of his most fiercest critics.
“Adam Schiff has zero credibility. Another fantasy to hurt the Republican Party!” the president tweeted.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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