If you’ve been watching the public impeachment inquiry hearings this week and last, then you’ve probably noticed one feature on the Republican side of things: giant signs that sit in the background.
GOP lawmakers taking part in the hearings have created large placards that are standing upright behind them, meant to push their talking points against the hearings themselves.
Sometimes, the cards have been inaccurate. In one example, the sign reads, “93 days since Adam Schiff learned the identity of the whistleblower,” which refers to the situation where Ukraine phone call whistleblower, which prompted the hearings in the first place, reached out to Schiff’s congressional office to discuss what steps to take in order to lodge a formal complaint.
That sign, however, isn’t based on any factual evidence. While the whistleblower did reach out to Schiff’s office, Schiff himself has denied that he knows the whistleblower’s identity, and there’s no evidence to suggest he’s lying.
“Several of my colleagues made the statement repeatedly that I have met with the whistleblower, that I know who the whistleblower is,” Schiff said earlier this month, per reporting from RealClearPolitics. “It was false the first time they said it, it was false the second through 40th time they said it. It will be false the last time they say it.”
On Thursday, a new sign appeared behind the Republicans involved in the hearings, which read “0 Days Since Adam Schiff Followed The Rules.”
This sign means Schiff was following the rules yesterday. https://t.co/6vLX6XiJnU
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 21, 2019
But as CNN’s Jim Acosta pointed out, the sign’s meaning is structured in a way that, grammatically, means Schiff has been following the rules.
“This sign means Schiff was following the rules yesterday,” Acosta said on his Twitter account.
The sign remains in place as of press time, though it’s unclear if it will be used again in the future. Thursday was the last scheduled day of public impeachment inquiry hearings for the week, Politico reported.