WASHINGTON -- The U.S. intelligence official whose whistle-blower complaint led to a House impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump has agreed to answer written questions from Republicans.
The whistle-blower has offered Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the opportunity to submit questions, the intelligence official’s lawyer Mark Zaid said in a tweet on November 3.
The official will answer the questions "under oath and penalty of perjury," Zaid said. However, the whistle-blower will not answer questions that seek to expose their identity, the lawyer tweeted, saying it could jeopardize the individual’s safety as well as that of their family.
The whistle-blower filed an anonymous complaint accusing Trump of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate his political rival Joe Biden during a July 25 call.
The complaint, which became public in September, opened the door for House Democrats to launch a closed impeachment inquiry later that month. The House voted on October 31 along partisan lines to endorse the impeachment inquiry and start its public phase.
Trump and Republicans have said they want to question the whistle-blower, who gathered the information for his complaint from secondary sources. Trump has accused the whistle-blower of having ties to a Democratic rival even though the officer's identity is unknown.
The details in the complaint have largely been confirmed by other officials during closed testimony.
