GOP releases list of witnesses for impeachment. Updates: Trump responds

House Republicans released a list of witnesses they want to be called to testify in the upcoming public impeachment hearings. The list must be approved by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and the Democrats.

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The biggest draw will be the inclusion of Hunter Biden if he is approved by Schiff and the Democrats. Also on the list is Biden’s former business partner, Devon Archer, who also sat on the board of Burisma. As you remember, Joe Biden was running the U.S.- Ukraine policy when he was Obama’s vice-president. Hunter and his partner received invitations to sit on the board of Burisma which included hefty paychecks.

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes wrote to Schiff to deliver the GOP members’ list of witnesses.

“Americans see through this sham impeachment process, despite the Democrats’ efforts to retroactively legitimize it last week,” House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes wrote in a letter to Schiff on Saturday, referencing the impeachment rules.

“To provide transparency to your otherwise opaque and unfair process, and after consultation with [House Oversight Committee] Ranking Member Jim Jordan and [House Foreign Affairs Committee] Ranking Member Michael McCaul, the American people deserve to hear from the following witnesses in an open setting,” he continued.

FOX News was the first to receive names on the list on Saturday morning.

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Also on the list is Nellie Ohr, who has often been overlooked in most reporting on the impeachment process. Ohr, you may remember, is the wife of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr. She met with Christopher Steele, former British spy, and author of Trump dossier the day before the FBI launched its Trump-Russia investigation. Nellie Ohr worked for Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Republicans are requesting that the “more than half a dozen sources” the whistleblower cited in their complaint to the Intelligence Community Inspector General attend the hearings. Also, there is a focus on Alexandra Chalupa.

In addition, Republicans also are expected to call Alexandra Chalupa as a witness. Chalupa was a Ukrainian-American consultant for the Democratic National Committee who allegedly had meetings with officials at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to discuss incriminating information about Trump campaign officials during the 2016 presidential election.

Chalupa was first brought into the conversation in January 2017, after Politico published a report exposing her as a DNC operative, who worked in the Clinton White House and met with officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in an effort to expose ties between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Russia.

“Given President Trump’s documented belief that the Ukrainian government meddled in the 2016 election to oppose his candidacy, which forms the basis for a reasonable desire for Ukraine to investigate the circumstances surrounding the election and any potential Ukrainian involvement, Ms. Chalupa is a prime fact witness who can assist Congress and the American public in better understanding the facts and circumstances surrounding Ukrainian involvement in the 2016 election,” Nunes wrote.

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This story is developing. Updates will be provided as details emerge.

UPDATE: 4:30 pm:

President Trump has weighed in on Twitter.

“I recommend that Nervous Nancy Pelosi (who backed up Schiff’s lie), Shifty Adam Schiff, Sleepy Joe Biden, the Whistleblower (who miraculously disappeared after I released the transcript of the call), the 2nd Whistleblower (who also disappeared), & the I.G., be part of the list!”.

Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes demanded on Friday that Schiff give a deposition in private to lawmakers.

Schiff is taking the GOP witness list under consideration.

“This inquiry is not, and will not serve, however, as a vehicle to undertake the same sham investigations into the Bidens or 2016 that the President pressed Ukraine to conduct for his personal political benefit, or to facilitate the President’s effort to threaten, intimidate, and retaliate against the whistleblower who courageously raised the initial alarm,” he said.

If his past behavior in conducting this inquiry process is any indication, it is highly unlikely that Schiff will allow any of the people requested by the House Republicans to testify in a public hearing.

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