Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill: Ukraine Whistleblower Is ‘Irrelevant’ Because of ‘Multiple First Person Sources’

Former Senator Claire McCaskill believes the original whistleblower in the Ukraine scandal is now irrelevant because multiple sources confirm the complaint’s accusations. McCaskill told MSNBC’s Morning Joe that it would be very difficult for Republicans to undermine Tuesday’s testimony from Ambassador Bill Taylor.

“There’s a couple of things here. First of all, the whistleblower is now irrelevant,” McCaskill said. “We can quit talking about who it is or where they worked or the identity because now there is multiple first person sources of what was going on.”

“Starting with the summary of the call itself, and then you add on Giuliani’s statements, you add on Sondland’s statements, you add on Mulvaney’s statements. Now you add on Bill Taylor’s statements, so let’s forget about that.”

“The other thing that’s really bugging me right now is these Republicans are all talking process, that this is a secret proceeding. America, the Republicans are in the room. They are there listening to all of this testimony. They are asking questions. This is not being hidden from the Republicans on Capitol Hill. They have access to all this information, and eventually the public will too once it gets passed the investigative portion.”

Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski pointed to the White House’s defense of Trump’s actions in a mocking tone. McCaskill wasn’t impressed by the administration’s approach either.

“It is a crime. It is a crime to shake down a foreign government for your political purposes, and this is a classic shakedown,” McCaskill said.

“As somebody who prosecuted shakedowns, this is … A prima facie case has more than been made. It is time to take it to the jury, which is the Senate, and shame on Republican senators if they try to smear this man.”

“This is a West Point grad, this is a veteran, this is someone who has served Republican administrations with honor and the Republican senators know it. So if they try to smear this guy, they really should have trouble sleeping at night.”

President Trump’s defenders have attacked the whistleblower, questioning his motivations. McCaskill now believes that tactic is no longer relevant.

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.