Especially when they got called into Schiff’s basement...here’s why, I think:
Obamagate was carried out by the executive branch, reporting to Obama. They didn’t and weren’t willing to rely on congressmen who have to get re-elected every 2 years. Schiff was in the minority until the midterms but when he became chairman he launched into all the endless witch hunts on his own. I suspect he wanted to show how the Great and Powerful Schiff could help the cause and curry favor among the true power brokers.
But it backfired on him, because their plan included going on TV and lying and making up crap to promote the Russia hoax, but when he called them to testify, thinking he’d now get all their allegations on the record to support his impeachment charges, they told the truth or developed bad memories to avoid perjury. It’s OK to like to a TV reporter but it’s not OK to lie to Congress, and they had nothing to lose because the false stories they’d put out had already had the desired effect.
So there he sat, after doing his big secret investigations, with a pile of testimony that didn’t prove what he set out to prove. So he sat on it, until Rick Grenell called his bluff last week.
Poor Liddle Adam Schiff...NOT!
...with Nancy's approval and blessings and support.