众议院情报委员会主席亚当·希夫说，他或众议院议长南希·佩洛西在参议院的审判中作证是“荒谬的”，因为唐纳德·特朗普认为这是一个很好的修辞攻击

希夫和射击线主持人玛格丽特·胡佛在一次采访中说星期五并且抨击共和党人盲目追随特朗普试图破坏弹劾程序的任何事情。在12月5日的推特上，总统声称“我们将有席夫、拜登、佩洛西和更多人作证，并将首次揭露我们的制度到底有多腐败。”希夫拒绝了自己作为事实证人在参议院作证的想法，认为这是“荒谬的”

希夫告诉胡佛，“没有理由传唤我作为证人，我想连[参议院多数党领袖米奇]麦康奈尔和共和党人都已经认识到这一点。”。把我列入名单的唯一原因是唐纳德·特朗普认为这是一个很好的修辞攻击。他还想给众议院议长打电话，我是说这很荒谬。"

但希夫指出，“有太多共和党人”愿意接受特朗普所说的任何话，无论多么荒谬。他特别召见了参议员林赛·格雷厄姆和罗恩·约翰逊，指责他们纯粹按照特朗普的吩咐行事。

“就参议员而言，这些人与总统就乌克兰问题进行过对话，讨论的是扣留军事援助的问题。我们也没有试图在众议院情报委员会给他们打电话。我们不想把它变成马戏团。当然，总统的兴趣在于马戏团，”希夫补充道。

希夫说，共和党人想嘲笑他，他们想找出并严惩告密者。

“不，他们想叫我做证人的原因只是为了有机会攻击我。没什么了，”希夫说。我不知道举报者是谁，所以我并没有给举报者增加多少价值。他们希望举报者出现在证人名单上的原因是他们想把举报者排除在外。他们想惩罚告密者。这样做会危及告密者。"

希夫说，唯一比弹劾失败更糟糕的事情就是根本不弹劾总统。他表示担心，如果麦康奈尔和参议院给特朗普一个自由通行证，“椭圆形办公室的腐败”将达到新高。

“我将不得不修正我之前说过的话，因为没有什么比失败的弹劾更糟糕的了，当总统认为他凌驾于法律之上时，那根本就不是弹劾，根本就没有责任。希夫说:“最终，如果共和党人没有履行他们的宪法义务，这并不能免除我们履行职责的义务。”。

希夫说，他不知道国会有权说服特朗普在即将到来的2020年选举中不作弊。但是他说弹劾调查很重要，因为“他不能被允许继续这种不当行为。”

席夫继续说:“穆勒作证说，他想做什么就做什么，[·特朗普确实觉得自己有完全的执照。”。“我们必须向总统表明他并不凌驾于法律之上。他是负责任的。任何总统都是，无论政党如何。我希望，如果这是巴拉克·奥巴马，他犯下了这些行为中的一半，我会站在那里敦促弹劾他。对我的共和党同事来说，这应该是一位共和党总统。”

亚当·希夫拒绝特朗普要求他作证的呼吁，称这只会被共和党人用来攻击他个人。

ADAM SCHIFF SAYS DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO MAKE IMPEACHMENT A 'CIRCUS,' REJECTS CALLS TO TESTIFY

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said it's "absurd" that he or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would testify in a Senate trial, "because Donald Trump thinks it's a good rhetorical attack."

Schiff spoke with Firing Line host Margaret Hoover in an interview that aired on Friday, and ripped on Republicans for blindly following anything Trump has tried to do to disrupt the impeachment process. In a December 5 tweet, the president claimed "We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is." Schiff rejected the idea of himself testifying before the Senate as a fact witness as "absurd."

"There's no basis to call me as a witness and I think even [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and the Republicans have recognized that," Schiff told Hoover. The only reason to even put me on a list is because Donald Trump thinks it is a good rhetorical attack. He also wants to call the Speaker of the House, I mean it's absurd."

But Schiff noted there are "too many Republicans" willing to go along with anything Trump says, no matter how absurd. He specifically called out Senators Lindsey Graham and Ron Johnson, accusing them of purely doing Trump's bidding.

"These are people who have had conversations, in the case of the senators, with thepresident about Ukraine, about withholding of military aid. And we didn't seek to call them in the House Intelligence Committee. We didn't want to make a circus out of it. Of course, the president's interest is in the circus," Schiff added.

Schiff said Republicans want to ridicule him and they want to identify and castigate the whistleblower.

"No, the reason they would like to call me as a witness is just to have a chance to attack me. Nothing more," Schiff said. I don't know who the whistleblower is, so I don't add much value in terms of the whistleblower. The reason they want the whistleblower on their witness list is they want to out the whistleblower. They want to punish the whistleblower. And in so doing they will endanger the whistleblower."

Schiff said that the only thing worse than a failed impeachment would have been no impeachment of the president at all. He expressed concern that "corruption in the Oval Office" would hit new highs if McConnell and the Senate give Trump a free pass.

"I'll have to amend what I said a little earlier in terms of there being nothing worse than a failed impeachment, and that is no impeachment at all when the president believes that he is above the law, no accountability at all. Ultimately if the Republicans failed to live up to their constitutional duty, it doesn't relieve us of our obligation to do our duty," Schiff said.

Schiff said he doesn't know that it's within the Congress' power to convince Trump against cheating in the upcoming 2020 election. But he said the impeachment inquiry was important because "he cannot be permitted to continue this kind of misconduct."

"[Trump] did feel that he had complete license after Mueller testified to do whatever he wanted to to be above the law," Schiff continued. "And we have to show the president he is not above the law. He is accountable. Any president is, regardless of party. I would hope that if this were Barack Obama and he had committed half these acts that I would be out there urging his impeachment. It shouldn't be any different for my Republican colleagues that this is a Republican president."

Adam Schiff rejected Trump's calls for him to testify, saying it would only be used for Republicans to attack him personally.