GOP lawmaker: Democrats cherry-picking what to leak in impeachment inquiry

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) slammed Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for his handling of the impeachment inquiry, saying the process is filled with “cherry-picked leaks, withholding of key facts and … lying.”

Zeldin told John Castimatidis on his Sunday radio show that the impeachment process “kind of a flying by the seat of your pants type process” for Schiff, who is leading the impeachment process.

{mosads}”Something that I find outrageous is the cherry-picked leaks, the withholding of key facts and the lying about other claims that’s misleading the American public,” Zeldin said.

Zeldin said he has sat in on a total of almost 20 hours of testimony between former special envoy Kurt Volker’s and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovich’s testimonies as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight Investigations Subcommittee. Four more testimonies are scheduled for the upcoming week.

The New York representative said the depositions should be held “live in front of the American public for everyone to hear.”

“Why are sitting inside of Adam Schiff’s bunker turning in our cell phones before we come in and being told that nothing here can be told to the American public?”

Zeldin said he thinks the minority party in the House should also have subpoena power in the impeachment process.

He added that he has “outstanding questions” about how Schiff has handled the whistleblower process. 

“The only thing the whistleblower has to add that’s new is information that frankly Adam Schiff and his staff don’t want us talking about,” he said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) launched an impeachment inquiry into President Trump after a whistleblower report came to light saying Trump asked the Ukrainian president to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The House has not had an official vote to open an impeachment inquiry.