California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff claimed he doesn't know the whistleblower’s identity, despite his staff having met with him or her prior to submitting the complaint.

During the first round of public testimony, Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan pressed Schiff to disclose information about the whistleblower prior to the testimony from Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent. He and New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik asked Schiff when they would be allowed to subpoena the whistleblower.

“Do you anticipate when we might vote on the ability to have the whistleblower in front of us, something you — of the 435 members of Congress, you are the only member who knows who that individual is and your staff is the only staff of any member of Congress who has had a chance to talk with that individual. We would like that opportunity,” Jordan said, asking, “When might that happen in this proceeding today?”

Schiff claimed Jordan was making a “false statement,” adding, “I do not know the identity of the whistleblower, and I’m determined to make sure that identity is protected.”

According to reports from the New York Times, Schiff’s staff met with the whistleblower before the complaint was filed . Schiff claimed that he was not told the identity of the whistleblower by his staff. The Washington Examiner reported on Oct. 11 that Schiff has two staffers who worked with alleged whistleblower Eric Ciaramella while he was at the White House.

Ciaramella, 33, was a career CIA analyst who worked under the Obama administration as Ukraine director on the National Security Council. The Washington Examiner reported that Ciaramella now works as a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia on the National Intelligence Council and previously worked under the Trump administration as acting senior director for European and Russian affairs.