Congress, Media, Politics, Society

Schiff “Must Be Stopped”: Trump Attacks Schiff As “Liar” and “Leaker”

donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_cropped440px-Adam_Schiff_115th_official_photoI have previously criticized the President for his use of Twitter to attack those conducting the Russian investigation and various critics.  Many of these tweets are in my view clearly inappropriate and distinctly unhelpful to his legal team.  Indeed, today the Hill posted a column where I criticize James Comey for adopting the same use of social media in lashing out at critics.  Now, Trump is attacking Ranking Member Adam Schiff as a “liar and leaker.”  I have recently criticized Schiff for his claims about the highly classified content of the recently released four-page memo.  However, these attacks on social media — and name calling — only serve to undermine the President in this controversy.  Presidents have long strived to maintain a dignified and deliberative position in addressing opposing allegations or critics.  These attacks have not worked well for the President  and fuel allegations that he is defensive and alarmed by these investigations.  For those of us who have questioned the evidence of criminal conduct, the attacks are curious since they fit a narrative put forward by the President’s critics.  I served as lead defense counsel in the impeachment of Judge Thomas Porteous — the last impeachment trial heard by the Senate. My opposing lead counsel was Rep. Adam Schiff, who I found to be a remarkably competent prosecutor and able opponent.

In his latest attack, Trump stated:

 3h3 hours ago

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Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!

 The calling to “stop” Schiff is disconcerting since the President has reportedly discussed firing Special Counsel Mueller and even seeking his prosecution as well as reports of wanting to fire Attorney General Jeff Session and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The statement could be viewed as encouraging the termination of the congressional investigation as Trump has called for the end of the Special Counsel investigation. None of that is helpful to the President’s legal team.

What do you think?

243 thoughts on “Schiff “Must Be Stopped”: Trump Attacks Schiff As “Liar” and “Leaker””

  2. It appears that Rep. Schiff may have withheld information from the House Intelligence Committee.
    From The Daily Mail
    Feb. 6, 2018
    “Adam Schiff sent his staff to try to collect ‘classified material’ for the FBI after Russian prankster told him Putin has naked blackmail pictures of Trump”.
    This incident happened months ago, so why are we just hearing about this now?
    Maybe Schiff thought he was talking to one of Christopher Steele’s Russian sources.
    I haven’t found a recording of this phone call online….the Russian comedians “Vovan and Lexus” have managed to pull off these prank calls on a numbed of prominent figures.
    I have heard their prank calls to Maxine Waters and Nikki Haley…..these guys are hilarious.😄😂

    1. Autumn,…
      I sometimes wonder what the hell people like Steele and those at Fusion HPS expected when they involved themselves in the 2016 election.
      The normal objective of “spies”, and of those who do opposition research, is to keep a low profile.
      The question that keeps coming up in my mind is, given their activities and (evidently) contacts with the media to promote their narrative, did they really expect to remain anonymous, or “detached” from the story.
      They MADE THEMSELVES part of the story.

      1. Tom, I believe that Steele, Fusion HPS, etc. thought HRC would win — they were so wrapped up in their closeness to power that they never thought what if. I wonder what kind of rep Steele has at MI6. What his peers think of him now?

        So now some folks are wondering about Carter Page – was (is) he an FBI asset like a Trojan horse inserted in the Trump transition?

        Anything is possible at this point IMO

          1. I posted a comment concerning that article at The Hill (reposted below along with my response to a reply I received from a commenter that suggested that my comment might be beyond the scope of the IG’s investigation. I don’t think you need to worry about Horowitz being intimidated. That’s not gonna happen. And I don’t think you need to worry about his motivation to “do the right thing.”

            I think you need to worry about whether the scope of the IG’s investigation will be artificially limited and won’t touch upon very serious issues that gave rise to much of the misconduct in the news today (because that’s been the pattern in all previous FBI and Congressional “investigations”). I’m referring specifically to the FBI’s felonious misconduct when it comes to handling/mishandling evidence in order to steer investigations toward a desired goal — in this case, creating the myth concerning Russian hacking and election interference which created the excuse for the Trump/Russia investigations, still ongoing even though the FBI and Mueller know it was just a scheme concocted by Hillary and the DNC, with assistance from Comey, Clapper, Brennan, and others in the “intelligence community.”

            I used to comment regularly at The Hill, but rarely do so anymore as its comment section has become a magnet for moronic nonsense.

            But here’s what I wrote there today about Horowitz and the article you referenced and linked:

            My Comment: I wonder if Horowitz will issue an opinion as to the propriety of the FBI having outsourced examination of the DNC’s allegedly-hacked-by-Russians server(s) to a hireling of the DNC, or how during the course of that hireling’s finding the “digital fingerprints” of Russian hackers, the FBI and entire “intelligence community” failed to mention anything about the CIA possessing a criminal hacking tool the plants fake evidence identical to the Russian “digital fingerprints” found in the DNC’s device(s).
            I sure hope all of that isn’t representative of the way the FBI usually handles evidence. Won’t be much of a report if it doesn’t clarify some of that.

            My reply: It’s only what started the whole Russian-hacking/Russian-collusion narrative.

            Russians allegedly hack the DNC server(s), and instead of taking custody of and examining the evidence (as required), the FBI lets Hillary hire someone to do it.

            The FBI needs evidence to seek a FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign, and instead of looking for evidence themselves they let Hillary hire someone to do it.

            See the pattern?

            1. WB re: “I think you need to worry about whether the scope of the IG’s investigation will be artificially limited and won’t touch upon very serious issues that gave rise to much of the misconduct in the news today’

              Thanks for that – those of us who are not lawyers often miss important aspects.

        2. Autumn,…
          – That’s a good point you made about the assumption that Hillary would win.
          Their “cover” would have been far less likely to have been blown in a Clinton administration.
          As a sidenote, this isn’t the first time that Steele has been reported to have done a disappearing act.
          At some point, we’ll probably get some clarification about how Carter Page fits into this whole Russia/ Mueller/Trump etc. scenario.
          Since he’s been on the FBI’s radar since 2013, under surveillance at times, I’d guess that Mueller knows at this point whether he really “has something” on Page or not.
          I don’t think that Page was a “plant” in the Trump camp, but as you said, anything’s possible.

    2. Where is Rod Rosenstein? He was three doors down from Bruce Ohr whose wife worked for Hillary

      Clinton’s “dossier” project at Fusion GPS.

      What did Rod Rosenstein know and when did he know it?

      What did Rod Rosenstein know when he appointed a special prosecutor for “Russian Collusion” by the

      President of the United States?

      Really, Rod?

      What did Mueller know and when did he know it?

      Mueller was at FBI when Hillary was at the State Dept – just coincidentally, Mueller left the administration

      when Hillary left.

      Is it possible that the FBI Director knew nothing about the racketeering and corruption by the Secretary of

      State?

      And just think, Hillary was supposed to win keeping all of her “deals” and the machinations in the republican

      “Memo” out of the public domain.

      Obama, tell us true.

      What did you know and when did you know it?

      Does anyone seriously believe the upper echelons of the DOJ/FBI and the Obama administration didn’t

      know and participate in any of that which is described in Hillary’s crime spree and in the republican “Memo”?

      President Trump was the target of the “dossier” creator, Christopher Steele, whose operation was put into

      play by Hillary and the DNC, while Carter Page as the “patsy”.

      The most prodigious scandal in American political history – “Obamagate”.

      1. Please elaborate further on this undoubtedly “Deep State”-related cabal of ne’er-do-wells you have so cleverly uncovered. I would enjoy imagining the just deserts these scoundrels will assuredly have coming. However, my sweet revenge is unfulfilled at this point, as I can’t tell from your comprehensive and hard-hitting expose exactly what crimes against man and nature these cads, layabouts and rogues have committed…

        this is to “the detective” georgie – paulie

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