Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, accompanied by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. and other congress members speaks during a news conference on Trump Putin Helsinki Summit at Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, July 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Just when you think Democrats can’t be any more manipulative about the process of impeachment against President Donald Trump, they manage to go even lower.

First, Democrats ‘launched’ an impeachment inquiry simply by the proclamation of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) without holding a full floor vote to open an inquiry as has been the process previously. So the process doesn’t even have the sanction of a Congressional vote.

Second, as we reported yesterday, Democrats have been holding hearings, questioning people in secret and they plan on doing that this week as well. So there’s absolutely no transparency to the process and no one can see what is actually being said and Democrats get to frame (read: leak selectively) whatever they want to frame the case. (READ: Democrats Trying to Impeach Trump in Secret Hearings)

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has argued it’s necessary to maintain the identity of the whistleblower. So are they intent upon trying to impeach the president without even identifying who the person is so that the person’s story can be adequately cross-examined?

Apparently so because now the word is that they don’t even intend on telling their Republican colleagues who the person is or even allowing them to question the whistleblower.

From The Hill:

Democrats are going to great lengths to hide the whistleblower’s identity out of fear the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee could leak their identity, according to The Washington Post, which cited three people familiar with the discussions. Democrats are considering holding testimony outside the Capitol as well as a staff-only session that would bar lawmakers from questioning the whistleblower, according to the Post. Democrats are also weighing options to distort the whistleblower’s appearance and voice, including through a video camera or audio-only testimony or by placing the person behind a screen, the Post reported.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) blasted the lack of transparency and secrecy by the Democrats.

This entire process has been a scam. Dems now plan to only allow themselves and their staff to know the whistleblower’s identity, while concealing it from Republican committee members. This is unprecedented. What are they trying to hide??#KangarooCourt https://t.co/AmIvachqKN — Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 7, 2019

Are we a banana republic or do we operate according to the Constitution? This is insane.

‘Democracy’ isn’t dying in the darkness, our republic is being assaulted in broad daylight by this effort of the Democrats.

Democrats’ argument for secrecy is especially ironic given the multiple leaks out of Adam Schiff’s committee directly to media that always seemed against the president during the Russia probe.

As Scalise notes, what are they hiding? Do they not want the GOP to know who the person is because that might be revelatory of bias? Fox’s Catherine Herridge has already reported that not only is the person a registered Democrat which by itself might not be a big thing, but also a prior work history with a current, prominent Democratic politician.

Time to end the charade.