On the recordJanuary 30, 2020
I send to the desk a question on behalf of myself and Senators Lee and Johnson. The CHIEF JUSTICE. Thank you. The question from Senator Blackburn and Senators Lee and Johnson is for counsel for the President: What was the date of first contact between any member of the House Intelligence committee staff and the whistleblower regarding the information that resulted in the complaint? How many times have House Intelligence committee members or staff communicated in any form with the whistleblower since that first date of contact? Mr. Counsel PHILBIN. Mr. Chief Justice, Senators, thank you for that question. The answer is, we don't know. Nobody knows. We don't know when the first contact was. We don't know how many contacts there were. We don't know what the substance of the contact was. That all remains shrouded in some secrecy. And as I said a moment ago, we think that the way this case has been presented, this body should simply acquit. There is no need to get more evidence to probe into that. But if we were to go down the road of any evidence or witnesses, then those are certainly relevant questions and relevant things to know about, to understand what those contacts were, what the whistleblower's motivation was, what is the connection between the whistleblower and any staffers, and how that played any role in the formulation of the complaint. That would all be relevant to understand how this whole process began.…
