Democrat Counsel Daniel Goldman Refuses to Say Who Ordered Phone Snooping

House Intelligence Committee Democrat counsel Daniel Goldman refused Monday to answer questions from House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) about whether he or Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) ordered private phone logs to be matched to political targets and then published.

Goldman was testifying at a Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment of President Donald Trump, presenting Schiff’s 300-page report, which was released last Tuesday. The report included phone records purporting to show communications involving Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (D-CA), journalist John Solomon, presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and others. The records were used to allege that Nunes — Schiff’s political rival — conspired to smear U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, a claim he denies.

During the opening of questioning by the Republican minority, Collins confronted Goldman about the decision to subpoena the phone records, to check the numbers against known individuals, and then to publish the logs.

Goldman was evasive, saying initially that the more important issue was the fact of the conversations themselves.

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