The first three witnesses being called in President Joe Biden's impeachment inquiry proceedings will "set the tone for the whole case," former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said on Newsmax Tuesday.
The House Oversight Committee announced Monday that its first trio of witnesses will be Eileen O'Connor, former assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Tax Division; Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School; and Bruce Dubinsky, an expert witness in forensic accounting.
"If you think about somebody that ran DOJ Tax, they're going to be able to tell you how tax cases work because of the unique way they're investigated by the Treasury Department and IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and then sent over to the Department of Justice," Whitaker told "Wake Up America" about O'Connor.
Turley, meanwhile, is someone who's known and trusted as a nonpartisan person who will put the testimony in context, and Dubinsky will provide "some context to how money is moved when people are laundering money through LLCs and bank accounts," Whitaker said.
Turley will be testifying about the crime of bribery and will explain the impeachment inquiry process to give "context from a legal perspective that is probably very important," as the first steps in the process unfold, Whitaker added.
"This is going to be highly watched, and a lot of people are going to make up their opinions pretty early," he said.
Whitaker also commented on the unfolding case against Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. The senator and his wife have been charged with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from New Jersey businessmen in return for using his power and influence. The indictment showed gold bars investigators seized from Menendez's home and more than $480,000 in cash found in his jackets and in his home.
Menendez says that the money accumulated over the past 30 years from his withdrawing funds from his personal savings account and that he was keeping the money for emergencies.
Whitaker called his reasoning "flimsy," adding that "when you have very little to cling onto, you pick the best defense you possibly can."
"He's just trying to fight for another day and maybe fight for reelection," said Whitaker. "He sees his career in the Senate may be coming to an ugly end.
"This case obviously is going to be about the evidence and the Department of Justice putting those pictures out there. They were intentionally trying to, you know, dirty him up, and we'll see if he can put on a defense that demonstrates that he made these withdrawals."
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