So That's Why Schiff Won't Release the Transcript of the 18th Witness

While presenting the Democrats' case for impeachment on the Senate floor, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff (D-CA) kept referencing 17 witnesses who testified during the House impeachment inquiry. But there were 18 of them. Schiff and the Democrats are refusing to release the testimony of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, and according to Republicans who were present during Atkinson's closed-door testimony, the reason the transcript hasn't been released is because it proves both the whistleblower and House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff did not tell the truth about their contact with each other.

Fox News' Maria Bartiromo interviewed Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) on "Sunday Morning Futures" about the 18th transcript the Democrats are refusing to release. Rep. Ratcliffe was there for Inspector General Michael Atkinson's testimony and says the transcript is damaging to Chairman Adam Schiff and the whistleblower.

"The House managers kept putting up charts talking about the 17 witnesses," Ratcliffe began. "But there were 18 ... I was there. It's the one transcript out of 18 that hasn't been released. It's a 179-page transcript ... It's the one transcript that talks about Adam Schiff and the whistleblower. Now, everyone knows by now that Adam Schiff was not truthful about his contacts with the whistleblower. What they don't know and what's in that transcript is that the whistleblower wasn't truthful about his contacts with Adam Schiff. This whole thing started, Maria, when the whistleblower filed a complaint with the inspector general under penalty of perjury that wasn't true and correct, made representations in writing and verbally that weren't true and correct. And when we found that out and tried to get into the details of that, Adam Schiff, who was in charge of this investigation, shut it down, and now he's trying to bury that transcript."

Bartiromo noted that it wasn't the first time Chairman Adam Schiff has withheld exculpatory evidence. Despite looking at the same evidence as Chairman Schiff, Rep. Ratcliffe and former Rep. Trey Gowdy both saw abuses in the FISA warrant process used against Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, something that has since been confirmed by Inspector General Michael Horowitz's investigation. At the time, Adam Schiff denied any abuses in the FISA process and accused Republicans and the president of lying.