As the prosecution wrapped up their case, another day of the impeachment trial began. This time, the day started with a question and answer session, with Adam Schiff denying to know the Ukranian whistleblower, despite the fact that the said person had approached his committee to submit information regarding Trump’s ties with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

As Schiff said “First of all, I don’t know who the whistleblower is, I haven’t met them or communicated with them in any way.” This is in stark contrast against the explosive reports from the New York Times, in which Schiff’s staffer along with a CIA agent advised the whistleblower on what to put in the complaint and to submit it to the Intelligence Committee. The committee was of course headed by Schiff.

In an interview with NYT, Schiff’s spokesperson confirmed this allegation that the whistleblower “contacted the committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the intelligence community.”

Despite being caught in an outright lie, the representative tried to brush off these accusations by saying that it was all a part of a “conspiracy theory.” “The committee staff did not write the complaint or coach the whistleblower what to put in the complaint,” Schiff said.

To gain more sympathy, Schiff even told the media that his staff was placed under threat and smear campaigns by Trump’s supporters, and insisting that he had handled the situation with “professionalism.”

Despite the constant request from Republicans saying that the whistleblower should testify in the impeachment trial, Shiff denied the public from knowing the truth, explaining that he wanted to protect the identity of the whistleblower.

Instead, the representative tried to spin the story by blaming the White House from denying former National Security Adviser John Bolton from testifying. In fact, when Schiff was asked why the Intelligence Community Inspector General would not release hidden key transcripts from the whistleblower’s testimony, Shiff refused to answer the question and prevented Republicans from having more pieces of evidence and witnesses.

To further prove his point, Schiff had even addressed the Senate by saying that they cannot “rely on what was investigated in the House.”

This is again contrary to House Impeachment Manager Jerry Nadler’s countless claim that the prosecution had successfully proved that Trump is “guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”

As Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) posted on Twitter, accusing Schiff of lying in the senate: “Stunning that Adam Schiff lies to millions of Americans when he says he doesn’t know the identity of the whistleblower,” she wrote. “He absolutely knows the identity of the whistleblower because he coordinated with the individual before the whistleblower’s complaint! His staff helped write it!”

Stefanik then posted another tweet “There is one transcript that Adam Schiff refuses to release. The Intelligence Community Inspector General transcript. It needs to be released for the American people to read. Why? Bc it answers ?s on the coordination & political bias of the whistleblower #ReleasetheTranscript”

The session will resume in the Senate at 1:00 PM on Thursday, while the vote on witnesses is scheduled to be announced on Friday.