Schiff and Vindman have both stated they do not know identity of whistleblower. How would Vindman answering Nunes’ questions out the whistleblower?
Right. The way to the whistleblower is to ask questions like, “who are the other people that are germane to Ukraine policy?”
Then you ask, “our understanding is ‘name’ who is ‘title’ is involved. Have you worked with ‘name’ and have you had conversations with ‘name’ between the dates of... and what did you discuss?’
Go through a couple of them, then get to Ciramella. See what Schiff does.
That’s how you get the whisteblower out in the public record without being overt.
Vindman was the leak to Ciaramella. Nunes pushed him on it and Schiff tried to cover it up, but Vindman had previously testified that he “didn’t know the whistleblower.”
Lawyers who become politicians often do so because they suck at the practice of law. An experienced and competent trial lawyer would structure the Q & A along the lines that you suggest. In all fairness, however, an effective cross-examination takes time to develop, and 5 minutes, 30 minutes, and even 60 minutes may not be enough time to score points.