By Daniella Diaz, CNN
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who also sits on the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection, said Sunday he doesn’t think the committee’s next report will focus almost entirely on in Donald Trump.
Schiff, a Democrat from California, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” that he doesn’t think a recent Washington Post story about how the content of the report could potentially leave out research in other areas.
“No, I mean, I certainly hope not,” Schiff said. “I would like to see our report be as broad and inclusive as possible. We are discussing as a committee among the members what belongs in the body of the report, what belongs in the appendices of the report, what is beyond the scope of our investigation, and we will reach those decisions collaboratively.”
Schiff also defended the committee in response to a statement from Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney’s spokesperson accusing staff members of trying to introduce “liberal bias” into the report.
“I don’t think the back and forth is particularly helpful to the committee and I don’t want to get involved in it. We will reach a consensus on the report. We are very close to that now. We are close to putting the pen down,” Schiff said.
Bash inquired about the tension around Cheney and asked Schiff about a quote in the Post story in which a former staffer said that people working for the committee were “bummed out” when they felt the investigation had gone haywire. become a “Cheney 2024 campaign issue.”
“I’ve never seen it that way,” Schiff said, defending Cheney. “And I think his role on the committee has been indispensable. I have great respect for her and for (Illinois Rep.) Adam Kinzinger. They have shown a lot of courage and steadfastness, something that is sorely lacking in the Republican Party these days. So the committee would not have been the same without the participation of both of them and I have nothing but respect for both of them.”
schiff’s future
Schiff also fired back at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, saying repeatedly that he plans to strip Schiff of his committees if he becomes speaker of the next Congress.
“Kevin McCarthy doesn’t have an ideology, he doesn’t have a basic set of beliefs. It’s very hard to not only get to 218 like that, it’s even harder to keep 218. That’s his problem,” Schiff said. “So you will misrepresent my record, you will misrepresent (California Rep.) Eric Swalwell or (Minnesota Rep.) Ilhan Omar, whatever you have to do to get the QAnon caucus votes within your conference.”
This comes as McCarthy promised to remove power from the Democrats and vowed to remove Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Swalwell and Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee.
When asked about comments by Rep. Jim Comer of Kentucky, likely the next chairman of the House Oversight Committee, blaming Schiff for why he doesn’t believe in the credibility of congressional investigations, Schiff defended himself.
“Comer doesn’t believe in the Russia investigation, he doesn’t believe in the Ukraine investigation, he doesn’t believe in the January 6 investigation. And because? Because those were investigations into Donald Trump’s serial abuse of power. And Comer and (probably the next House Judiciary Chairman Jim) Jordan and McCarthy will do nothing but carry the water for Donald Trump,” Schiff said.
Asked if he would comply with a subpoena from the Republican Party in the new Congress, Schiff said: “We will have to consider the validity of the subpoena. … But I would certainly see my obligation, the administration’s obligation, to comply with the law. And the fact that they have disrespected the law is not a precedent, I hope it is widely followed, but we will have to see the legitimacy or lack of legitimacy in what they do.
The CNN Wire
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