Attacking the credibility of President Donald Trump's Ukraine call whistleblower, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, rejected the Democrats' latest litmus test for an impeachment inquiry as flimsy.
"Two things you look at to determine the credibility of a so-called whistleblower: First, did they have firsthand knowledge? And second, what was their motivation? Was there some kind of bias?" Jordan told CNN's "The State of the Union."
"This individual has problems on both of those counts. He had no firsthand knowledge, he heard something from someone who may have heard something from someone . . ."
Host Jake Tapper, a former Democratic campaign press secretary, injected the whistleblower was not a first-hand source, but he had first-hand sources.
"But he has no first-hand knowledge," Jordan shot back. "And second, he has a political bias. That should tell us something about this guy who came forward with this claim."
This does not rise to the level of impeachment, according to Jordan.
"And now the Democrats are saying, because of this whistleblower, we're going to impeach the president," Jordan told Tapper, whose interview devolved into a partisan shouting match. "I say, look at the transcript, and the transcript gives you no reason to impeach this president, overturn an election where the people spoke loud and clear."
Tapper argued the intelligence officials deemed the whistleblower's second-hand complaint as a "credible," but that does not mean the whistleblower himself is credible amid claims of partisanship, according to Jordan.
"It's something that's critical when you're assessing if they're credible," Jordan told Tapper, admitting the complaint can be credible, but that does not necessarily mean the allegations are, because they came second hand and from a partisan. "That's a major determination."