Every Republican on the House Intelligence Committee called on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to step down as chairman on Thursday, citing his repeated claims of having evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.
In a letter addressed to Schiff, the nine Republicans on the committee accused the California congressman of being “at the center of a well-orchestrated media campaign” and abusing his position “to knowingly promote false information.”
“Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as Chairman of this Committee,” the letter stated. “We have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.”
They confronted Schiff in person during an Intel Committee hearing Thursday morning, slamming him for continuing to proclaim to the media that there is significant evidence of collusion despite the Mueller report’s findings that neither President Trump nor anyone on his campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russians to win the 2016 election.
BREAKING: All 9 Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee call on Democrat Chairman Adam Schiff to resign, citing him continuing to spread the collusion conspiracy theory and "abus[ing] your position to knowingly promote false information." pic.twitter.com/VRQMWEdQM4
— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) March 28, 2019
President Trump went further than the Republicans Thursday morning, tweeting that Schiff “should be forced to resign from Congress!”
Congressman Adam Schiff, who spent two years knowingly and unlawfully lying and leaking, should be forced to resign from Congress!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019
Schiff responded to the demand, saying: “My colleagues may think it is okay that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate as part as what was described as the Russian effort to help the Trump campaign.” He conveniently left out the fact that the Russian offering dirt on Hillary (Natalia V. Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower in 2016) was a client of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that was funded by the DNC and Clinton campaign to find dirt on Trump.
“My colleagues may think it is okay when the president’s son was offered a role in the pivotal campaign. He did not call the FBI or refuse the foreign help, no, instead that son said he would ‘love’ that information,” Schiff continued.
“You may think it is okay when the chairman of a presidential campaign offered polling data to someone linked to Russian intelligence — I don’t think that’s okay,” Schiff added, referring to a report that Paul Manafort shared polling data related to the 2016 presidential election with Oleg P. Deripaska, “a Russian-Ukrainian businessman who the U.S. claims to have links to Russian intelligence.”
Mueller did not charge Manafort with any crimes related to Russia collusion.
“You may say that is all okay, that is just what you need to do to win. I don’t think it’s okay. I think it’s immoral, unethical, unpatriotic and yes, I think it is corrupt and evidence of collusion,” Schiff declared.
Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page responded to Schiff on Twitter, saying: “You might think its OK @RepAdamSchiff, that I received a long series of death threats from Oklahoma based on your and the DNC’s false attacks.”
You might think its OK @RepAdamSchiff, that I received a long series of death threats from Oklahoma based on your and the DNC's false attacks.
You might think its OK that I got the one below, after you recited the #DodgyDossier on national TV 2 years ago.
I don't think its OK. pic.twitter.com/Kzik84aglz
— Carter Page, Ph.D. (@carterwpage) March 28, 2019
Carter Page in 2016 was the center of the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into the Russia collusion plot. The DOJ and FBI obtained four FISA warrants, based on the unverified dossier, to spy on the former Navy officer. He was never charged with a crime.
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