Like so many of us, Congressman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) was none too pleased with Adam Schiff making up damning quotes during a congressional hearing, and he’s calling for Schiff to be censured over it.
Noting impeachment of a president is a stake, Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican, said, “It is therefore inexcusable to toy with the process and mislead the American public with such a statement.”
Mr. Schiff, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, opened the Thursday hearing by quoting from a just-released transcript of Mr. Trump’s White House phone call in July with newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr. Schiff, California Democrat, fabricated quotes by saying Mr. Trump threatened to tell Mr. Zelensky “seven more times” and you “better listen good” on helping an election investigation. And Mr. Schiff said the president pressed Mr. Zelensky to “make up dirt” on former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a Democratic presidential nominee and potential Trump foe.
Neither of those remarks is contained in the transcription.
Later, after Rep. Mike Turner, Ohio Republican, compared the transcript to Mr. Schiff’s remarks, Mr. Turner said, “I actually had someone text me, ‘is he just making this up?’ And yes, yes, he was because sometimes fiction is better than the actual words or the text. But luckily, the American public are smart.”
Schiff later called his quotes a “parody,” but Republicans accused Schiff of deliberately falsifying Trump’s words to influence the public who were tuning in to watch the testimony of Acting National Intelligence Director Joseph Maguire. Since Democrats control the House, it is unlikely that Schiff will face censure.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member