A lawyer for the whistleblower who raised alarms about President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine said Sunday his client is willing to answer written questions submitted by House Republicans.
The surprise offer, made to Rep Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, would allow Republicans to ask questions of the whistleblower, who spurred the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry, without having to go through the committee's chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Attorney Mark Zaid tweeted that the whistleblower would answer questions directly from Republican members "in writing, under oath & penalty of perjury," part of a bid to stem efforts by Trump and his GOP allies to unmask the person's identity. Only queries seeking the person's identity won't be answered, he said.
"Being a whistleblower is not a partisan job nor is impeachment an objective. That is not our role," Zaid tweeted. "So we have offered to @DevinNunes." "We will ensure timely answers," he said. Nunes' office did not have immediate comment.
The offer comes as Trump has repeatedly demanded the release of the whistleblower's identity, tweeting Sunday that the person "must come forward."
Republicans view a political opportunity in unmasking the CIA official, who the intelligence community's inspector general said could have "arguable political bias."
The inspector general nevertheless found the whistleblower's complaint to be "credible."
Zaid said his team had addressed the issue of alleged bias with Republican members of the committee and had stressed the need for anonymity to maintain the safety of the whistleblower and that person's family, "but with little effect in halting the attacks."
"Let me be absolutely clear: Our willingness to cooperate has not changed," tweeted Andrew P Bakaj, another attorney representing the whistleblower. "What we object to and find offensive, however, is the effort to uncover the identity of the whistleblower."
Bakaj wrote on Saturday that "their fixation on exposing the whistleblower's identity is simply because they're at a loss as to how to address the investigations the underlying disclosure prompted."