I understand that Pickering and Mullen had declined to appear, but then on Wednesday Pickering said that he wanted to testify, presumably to contradict the whistleblowers.
Now he will get his chance. I gather under oath.
That’s what I thought. It’s not as if the committee DIDN’T want them to appear, it was Pickering and Mullen themselves who couldn’t be bothered......until they heard the testimony.