Questions about House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff’s dealings with the anonymous Ukraine whistleblower are not “disgraceful,” as Schiff tried to claim on Thursday, nor are they baseless. These questions are relevant and necessary insofar as they inform the impeachment of President Trump, why this impeachment was launched, and how it came about.

During Thursday’s question period in the impeachment trial, Schiff was asked why the House Intelligence Committee hired two Obama-era National Security Council aides, Abigail Grace and Sean Misko, who had worked with the alleged whistleblower, and what role Grace and Misko had played in the House’s impeachment investigation.

Instead of addressing this potential conflict of interest, Schiff once again lied. He says he does not know who the whistleblower is, despite multiple reports to the contrary. He also dismissed the question as a “gratuitous attack” that insults his staff and the whistleblower.

This is ridiculous. Schiff's plethora of falsehoods has made it quite clear that he is not telling the American people the full story about why the whistleblower complaint was filed. The complaint was perfectly legitimate, but the motivations of the whistleblower are also important. And if his staff actively advised the whistleblower, those motivations deserve to be questioned as well.

By dismissing reasonable criticism and on-point questions, Schiff is trying to absolve himself of the irresponsibility and carelessness that defined the House’s impeachment investigation. If there was nothing wrong with his committee’s dealings, then Schiff should open up about them. These are important questions, and the public needs answers.