Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff is the one helping Vladimir Putin destabilize US democracy
Opinion by Scott Jennings | CNN
Updated 6:26 AM ET, Sat January 25, 2020

(CNN)On the floor of the US Senate, in full view of the American people, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff finished what Russian President Vladimir Putin started.

"The President's misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won," Schiff thundered this week, arguing for President Donald Trump's removal.

That comment stopped me in my tracks (and rankled many in the Senate GOP conference) because the conclusion of the US intelligence community was that Russia's interference in the 2016 election was designed "to undermine public faith in the US democratic process," an assessment backed up by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

What could possibly be more fulfilling of Putin's desire to sow discord and mistrust than for a senior member of Congress to stand in the well of the Senate and declare the 2020 election is already illegitimate before a single ballot has been cast?

Putin himself couldn't have scripted a better finale for his operation.

There is something revealing -- and chilling -- in Schiff's views on Trump's retrospective and prospective illegitimacy vis-à-vis the Republicans he routinely pillories for supporting the President. Schiff argues that Trump undermines our political institutions, but what could be more undermining to the Office of the Presidency than for his opposition to seemingly never accept the legitimacy of the person who occupies it?

Despite Schiff's promises, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report flatly stated that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities." But that has never stopped Schiff from indulging the Democratic myth that the 2016 election was stolen by the Trump campaign conspiring with a foreign government.

A majority of Republicans did not support Trump in the 2016 primary. In fact, GOP leaders raged and schemed to resist him until the end, but Trump overcame the establishment to win the nomination. Respecting the will of the voters, Republicans, unlike Democrats, ultimately accepted Trump's nomination and then his ascension to the White House.

To them, Trump won fair and square. They may not have liked it, but the system produced a result, and they respected it.

Schiff's reckless statements in the runup to the Mueller report and now this week's impeachment arguments were a continuation of the Democratic emotion to never concede the 2016 election -- and to never acknowledge the legitimacy of a man they detest. Schiff is, in effect, arguing that America's political institutions have already failed and will fail again unless a singular individual is no longer allowed to exist in the system.

As Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told Tucker Carlson, if Schiff's argument is that Trump's 2016 election isn't valid -- and 2020 is likely to be no different -- "and therefore you have to protect democracy by overturning elections... it's no wonder that they [Schiff and fellow Democrats] don't actually want to have this trial."

Schiff exudes the faithlessness of Democrats who are sure that the basic pillars of American democracy, which have stood like immovable rocks in a stormy world for nearly 250 years, crumbled on the night that Trump was elected and cannot be rebuilt unless he is banished from the public square.

One man, they seem to say, is enough to destroy all of the faith in democracy that sprang from the genius of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams.

Schiff's passionate floor speeches essentially suggest that Democrats don't want to toss Trump over the Ukrainian matter, but rather over the larger question of his whether he was or could ever be legitimately elected.

If Schiff is right, and this Democrat-only impeachment is overwhelming and righteous, shouldn't he be supremely confident that Trump will lose in a landslide, no matter what levers the President pulls?

Americans are being told by a major political party that, effectively, our democracy no longer works. We are on the cusp of an election in which most experts agree that voter turnout will reach historic levels, and yet Democrats would have us believe that, because Trump is a candidate in that election, we may as well cancel it.

"Can you have the least bit of confidence he'll stand up and protect our national interest over his own? You know you can't, which makes him dangerous to this country," Schiff argued.

But what's more dangerous? Predicting what Trump may or may not do, or fulfilling Putin's wish to project a belief that American democracy failed four years ago and is guaranteed to fail again? Putin won't need a pittance of Facebook ads this time around; he's got Schiff.

If I were a vicious commentator, I'd now take the leap of labeling Schiff a Russian operative. But that's not true, and we ought to take more care not to label our fellow Americans as such.

He is, however, a "useful idiot" in this case, unwittingly doing Putin's bidding.

Protecting the legitimacy of American democracy means actors in both parties must not reflexively label illegitimate the duly elected leaders of the opposite party when they clearly are not. This is what made Trump's prior obsession with former President Barack Obama's birth certificate so wrong.

Trump eventually admitted that Obama was born in the United States and was, therefore, the legitimately qualified president. Let's hope Schiff comes around to the same view of Trump's legitimacy before people start voting this fall.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/24/opinions/adam-schiff-is-the-one-helping-putin-destabilize-us-democracy-schiff/index.html

Published 3 hours ago
Impeachment backfire? Schiff opponent launches new ad thanking him for helping Trump
By Marisa Schultz | Fox News


Eric Early, a Republican vying to oust Rep. Adam Schiff from office, launched his first TV ad Saturday mocking the "limelight"-seeking California Democrat for leading an unsuccessful impeachment crusade.

The 30-second spot features several people telling Schiff "thank you."

The ad: https://app.frame.io/presentations/4addc0dc-6250-4011-a3d1-d93f7eae6b83

Early, a Los Angeles attorney running against Schiff for Congress, says Republicans are grateful that Schiff's impeachment backfire has boosted President Trump's likelihood of winning another four years in office.

“I thanked Adam Schiff for helping President Trump ultimately get reelected to the presidency," Early, 60, told Fox News. "President Trump’s approval ratings have never been higher since this impeachment. We can thank, in part, Adam Schiff for that."

The ad will run on cable and broadcast stations through the March 3 California primary, Early said.

"Adam Schiff walks around acting like he’s this brilliant genius who’s smarter than the rest of us," Early said. "Yet this so-called genius managed to not only help increase President Trump’s approval ratings but also helped destroy Joe Biden in the process. That takes some serious talent. Of course, that was not the result that Adam Schiff wanted."

Representatives for Schiff did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Early has an uphill climb to become the next congressman in a district that votes solidly Democrat. Schiff has raised a tremendous $9.2 million for his 2020 reelection campaign, records show. Early has brought in $528,000, which includes $108,000 in loans or donations the Republican made to his campaign.

But Early is counting on an energized GOP base turning out and swaying independents and moderate Democrats that Schiff has been so obsessed with Trump, he's lost sight of the needs of the district.

“Schiff has abandoned our district for 20 years," Early said. "Homelessness has reached epidemic proportions. It’s out of control. Crime is on the rise. Taxes keep going up. Illegal immigrants are being given whatever resources our state has rather than our tax-paying citizens."

As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff led investigations into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election and Trump's efforts to seek Ukraine's help investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

House Democrats went on to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, alleging Trump sought foreign interference in the 2020 election by asking the Ukraine president for investigations into the Bidens while nearly $400 million in military aid hung in the balance.

Schiff took the lead in the trial before the Senate, speaking for hours on end. But he failed to convince a majority of senators to agree to hear witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton, a decision Democrats claim led to a "sham" trial.

Senators voted to acquit Trump of abuse of power on a 48-52 vote, with Sen. Mitt Romney being the only Republican to join with all Democrats. The vote on obstruction of Congress was defeated along party lines, 47 to 53 -- far short of the two-thirds needed to remove Trump from office.

Since the acquittal, Trump has been taking a victory lap and enjoying peak approval ratings of his presidency.

“Of course, the president’s approval ratings have increased because of all the many great things he’s been doing," Early said, "but Schiff helped along those lines and for that Schiff deserves credit.”

Adam Schiff Rips Twitter Then Gets Personal Fact-Check From CEO Elon Musk
Jon Dougherty, December 9, 2022

Being the chief executive officer of a multibillion-dollar social media company is more than a full-time job, but Twitter boss Elon Musk appears to have settled into his new role rather well. In fact, he appears even to have time to help run some of the platform’s fact-checking operations.

Musk responded to criticism from Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday after the California Democrat, whose party will no longer control the House come January, made several false claims about rising abuse on the platform since Musk has implemented looser speech policies.

Schiff tweeted: “On Elon Musk’s Twitter: – Slurs against Black people have tripled – Slurs against women are up 33% – Slurs against Jewish people are up 61% – And slurs against gay men are up 58% These numbers are abysmal – and unacceptable. Today, @RepMarkTakano and I are demanding action.”

Musk replied: False, hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs prior to acquisition @CommunityNotes.”

False, hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs prior to acquisition @CommunityNotes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 8, 2022

Previously, the controversial Democratic lawmaker accused Musk of abusing animals during testing for one of his technology companies, Neuralink.

“When he’s not sabotaging safeguards against digital misinformation and hate, Or laying off thousands of employees, Elon Musk is running a company that performs cruel and deadly tests on animals? Doesn’t sound like a genius to me. Not even an unstable one,” Schiff tweeted.

When he's not sabotaging safeguards against digital misinformation and hate,

Or laying off thousands of employees,

Elon Musk is running a company that performs cruel and deadly tests on animals?

Doesn’t sound like a genius to me.

Not even an unstable one.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 7, 2022

Last week, Musk also published a graphic showing that since his takeover, hate speech incidents have fallen considerably.

“Hate speech impressions (# of times tweet was viewed) continue to decline, despite significant user growth! @TwitterSafety will publish data weekly. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of reach. Negativity should & will get less reach than positivity,” he wrote.

Hate speech impressions (# of times tweet was viewed) continue to decline, despite significant user growth!@TwitterSafety will publish data weekly.

Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of reach. Negativity should & will get less reach than positivity. pic.twitter.com/36zl29rCSM

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022

Schiff, who has been chair of the House Intelligence Committee, could be losing not only his leadership role but also is position on the panel after Republicans take control in January.

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is expected to become Speaker, has vowed to remove Schiff.

“Another change you’re going to get, Adam Schiff will no longer be on the Intel Committee when I become speaker. I promised that more than two years ago,” McCarthy said during an interview on Fox News.

“[Democrats] also used the intel community as well to lie to the American public. Should those people keep their clearances? Should those people still be allowed to have information? If they’re going to be political individuals, then, no, they should not. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we need to investigate going forward,” he added.

Late last month, McCarthy said that if elected Speaker, he will also remove Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar from congressional committees for past conduct.

During an interview on Fox News with host Maria Bartiromo, McCarthy spoke about Republicans winning back control of the U.S. House in the midterm elections. McCarthy, who appears poised to be nominated as the speaker, said he will honor his promise to boot the three controversial Democrats.

“Congressman, let me ask you about your decisions should you become the speaker of the House in January. What are you going to do in terms of these Democrats that you have on such important committees? You’ve talked in the past about removing I’ll hand to or mar, about Ilhan Omar, you’ve talked about removing Adam Schiff, about Eric Swalwell. Will you deliver?” Bartiromo asked McCarthy.

“Yes, I will. I’ll keep that promise. And one thing I’ve said from the very beginning, Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets of America? So I will not allow him to be on Intel. You have Adam Schiff who had lied to the American public time and again. We will not allow him to be on the Intel Committee either. Look, Congresswoman Omar, her anti-Semitic comments that have gone forward, we’re not going to allow her to be on Foreign Affairs. But we’re also going to stand up to what’s happening not just in the halls of Congress, but what’s happening to our higher education institutions, the anti-Semitism that’s going on on these campuses and others. We’ll investigate that as well and stop this to make sure that America does have the freedoms that we said we would keep and we would stand up to it as we move forward,” McCarthy declared.

Adam Schiff is one of the sleaziest politicians to have ever graced Washington D.C.