House Minority Leader Calls Impeachment Inquiry a ‘Calculated Coup’ Against Trump

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday described the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry as a “calculated coup,” and accused Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of orchestrating it.

McCarthy told Fox News: “It is clear now more than ever this is a calculated coup, and it is being orchestrated by Adam Schiff.”

“We are watching him orchestrate a takedown of a president after we just celebrated 30 years of taking down the Berlin Wall,” he added.

McCarthy also claimed Democrats are trying to obfuscate their involvement with the whistleblower at the center of the impeachment inquiry who alerted officials about Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine.

“This has been orchestrated, and if it goes out longer, we will find the lies, we will find out how they calculated the truth, we’ll find more about the whistleblower’s attorney and others,” he said.

The Republican leader’s criticism of Schiff, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, came after Schiff refused to allow Republicans to call the whistleblower and Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, to testify at public impeachment hearings on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

In a letter on Saturday, Schiff rejected Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, on the whistleblower, saying it is not necessary.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, and ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff speak to the media about Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election, at the U.S. Capitol on March 15, 2017. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

“The impeachment inquiry, moreover, has gathered an ever-growing body of evidence—from witnesses and documents, including the President’s own words in his July 25 call record—that not only confirms, but far exceeds, the initial information in the whistleblower’s complaint,” Schiff wrote. “The whistleblower’s testimony is therefore redundant and unnecessary.”

Schiff then added that “the individual’s appearance before us would only place their personal safety at grave risk,” after there were calls to unmask the anonymous person.

“On November 6th, you announced the beginning of public hearings associated with the Democratic Party’s partisan impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump,” Nunes had written, reported Fox News. “Based on the precedent and lack of jurisdiction, the House Intelligence Committee should not take the lead in conducting such hearings; however, by now the American people know your desire to see the duly-elected president removed from office outweighs your sense of responsibility to running a functioning intelligence oversight committee.”

And should the impeachment reach the Senate, top Republicans have signaled that the whistleblower might need to testify.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks to the media after President Donald Trump delivered remarks on the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, at the White House in Washington on Oct. 27, 2019. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“I consider any impeachment in the House that doesn’t allow us to know who the whistleblower is to be invalid because without the whistleblower complaint we wouldn’t be talking about any of this,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News on Sunday.

It would be unfair if the person who started the impeachment inquiry didn’t testify, Graham said.

“It’s impossible to bring this case forward, in my view, fairly without us knowing who the whistleblower is and having a chance to cross-examine them about any biases they may have,” he said. “So if they don’t call the whistleblower in the House, this thing is dead on arrival in the Senate.”