Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell said he would not talk about the alleged whistleblower’s name, which was mentioned by the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine in a private impeachment deposition.
The Republican counsel on the House Oversight Committee dropped CIA officer Eric Ciaramella’s name into the record during his questioning of William Taylor on Oct. 22. Ciaramella’s name was in the official transcript of Taylor’s testimony that was released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
“I’m not going to comment on the whistleblower’s name,” Swalwell said when asked by the Washington Examiner if Ciaramella’s name was supposed to be redacted from the transcript.
When pressed if Ciaramella was supposed to be in the transcript, Swalwell replied, “Again, I don’t accept that the person’s name was leaked.”
According to Taylor’s deposition transcript, Castor asked the U.S. diplomat, “Does a person by the name of Eric Ciaramella ring a bell for you?”
Taylor responded, “It doesn’t.” Asked whether he is certain if he has never had communications with a person by that name, Taylor said, “Correct.”
This is not the only instance where Republicans have reportedly brought up the suspected whistleblower’s name. According to the Washington Post, GOP lawmakers asked about him and other suspected whistleblowers routinely in other depositions.
