GOP Rep. Doug Collins Accuses Democrats of ‘Cover-Up’ Because ‘Adam Schiff is a Fact Witness’

While Republicans in the Senate have been widely criticizing for their proposed schedule for this week’s impeachment trial – a timetable that could see key proceedings take place after midnight – GOP Congressman Doug Collins was accusing Democrats of being the ones conducting a cover-up.

Collins attacked Democrats for saying former National Security Adviser John Bolton should be called as a witness and not issuing a subpoena for him in the House. Bolton would almost certainly not have testified before the House and the Trump administration would have done its’ best to stop him.

“I think it’s a cover-up from the fact that Adam Schiff is a fact witness,” Collins said. “Adam Schiff does not want the American public [to know] how much he and his committee knew about this whistleblower and the issues going forward.”

“Once it was found out he had contact with the whistleblower, all of a sudden the whistleblower became, oh we don’t need the whistleblower’s activity. Why? Because it shined a light on his activities which were wrong in the process.”

Collins’ argument is both disingenuous and factually incorrect. While the Ukraine whistleblower made contact with members of Schiff’s staff, Schiff himself did not meet the whistleblower and denies knowing who the whistleblower is. This has not stopped the President’s defenders making this claim repeatedly. The whistleblower’s claims were largely corroborated by witness testimony and documentation.