Adam Schiff Says He Doesn't Regret Paraphrasing Trump Phone Call with Ukraine
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that he has no regrets about his so-called parody of President Donald Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
During an interview with the California Democrat on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Chuck Todd asked if he regretted his opening statement on the phone call at the center of Trump’s impeachment, in which Schiff offered a fictionalized version of Trump’s words.
Schiff replied with one word: “No.”
Trump fired off his opinion of the interview on Twitter.
“Sleepyeyes Chuck Todd of Meet the Corrupt Press, just had a ‘totally’ softball interview with conman Adam Schiff, never even calling Shifty out on his fraudulent statement to Congress, where he made up ALL of the words of my conversation with the Ukrainian President! FAKE NEWS,” the president said.
Sleepyeyes Chuck Todd of Meet the Corrupt Press, just had a “totally” softball interview with conman Adam Schiff, never even calling Shifty out on his fraudulent statement to Congress, where he made up ALL of the words of my conversation with the Ukrainian President! FAKE NEWS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2020
“After having been exposed as a fraud and corrupt, can anyone, including Sleepyeyes Chuck Todd of Fake @NBCNews, continue to listen to his con?” he continued.
After having been exposed as a fraud and corrupt, can anyone, including Sleepyeyes Chuck Todd of Fake @NBCNews, continue to listen to his con?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2020
Trump has repeatedly objected to Schiff’s remarks at an Intelligence Committee hearing in September, which put words in Trump’s mouth that made it seem as though the president was demanding a quid pro quo from Zelensky on the call.
Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2019
“We’ve been very good to your country. Very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what, I don’t see much reciprocity here,” Schiff said, playing the part of Trump during the phone call.
“I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you, though and I’m gonna say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of it … on this and on that,” Schiff said.
“I’m gonna put you in touch with people and not just any people. I’m gonna put you in touch with the Attorney General of the United States … Bill Barr. He’s got the whole weight of the American law enforcement behind him and I’m gonna put you in touch with Rudy. You’re gonna love him, trust me. You know what I’m asking, so I’m only going to say this a few more times in a few more ways. And by the way, don’t call me again; I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked,” Schiff said.
The Ukraine Call Transcript was so damning that Adam Schiff had to completely rewrite it and make up quotes that weren’t in it.pic.twitter.com/bkB6RxLFjV
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) September 26, 2019
The comment was brought up Saturday as Trump’s lawyers started making their case to the Senate.
“That’s fake,” deputy White House counsel Mike Purpura said Saturday in Trump’s impeachment trial, according to The Hill. “That’s not the real call. That’s not the evidence here.”
Schiff was one of the main speakers last week as House Democrats sought to make their case against Trump to the Senate.
During his “Meet the Press” interview Sunday, he attacked Senate Republicans for their position that the Senate should not call additional witnesses beyond those called when the House moved quickly to pass articles of impeachment against Trump last month.
“I think they’re deathly afraid of what witnesses will have to say,” Schiff said. “And so their whole strategy has been deprive the public of a fair trial. They don’t frame it that way, but that’s in essence it.
“They have a very heavy burden, though, with that because the American people understand what a fair trial is. A fair trial requires witnesses. A fair trial does not consist of the person who is charged agreeing with the judges to deprive the prosecution from being able to make a case.”
Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York offered a rebuttal to such claims Friday on Twitter.
Schiff Claim #1: He blocked GOP questions of witnesses in the House, bc we were asking “Who is the whistleblower, because we want to punish him?”
FACT: If you read through all of the transcripts, you will not find that question asked once.
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) January 25, 2020
Schiff Claim #6: There was no evidence that the President was concerned about “burden sharing”.
FACT: OMB’s Mark Sandy testified that the reason he was told why the President placed a hold on aid to Ukraine was that he was concerned about other countries paying their fair share.
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) January 25, 2020
The Senate was scheduled to reconvene the impeachment trial at 1 p.m. EST Monday.
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