House Republicans have announced that they plan to call impeachment leader Adam Schiff to testify as a fact witness in the impeachment inquiry because of his contact with the whistleblower before a whistleblower complaint was filed.

According to Fox News:

House Republicans plan to call Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff as one of their first witnesses in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump following the adoption of formal rules for the investigation, claiming he is a “fact witness” due to his office’s early involvement with the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the proceedings.

A source familiar with Republicans’ strategy moving forward in the impeachment inquiry confirmed to Fox News on Monday that GOP members plan to call Schiff, D-Calif., for questioning — even if they are unlikely to succeed.

The source told Fox News that Republicans want answers to questions like: “How many times did he meet with the whistleblower? What did they advise the whistleblower to do? How much was Schiff involved in this? Did he recommend the whistleblower give the complaint to the intelligence community inspector general, even though there was no intel component, so that he could be involved?”

Schiff maintains that he has not personally spoken with the anonymous whistleblower. However, it was revealed several weeks ago that the whistleblower at least had early contact with his office, essentially giving them a heads-up about the complaint concerning Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine’s president.

House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy has announced that Schiff would be the first witness that he and his staff call.