Will Adam Schiff Shut-Up Already?

A comprehensive refutation of his latest "case of Russia collusion

Adam Schiff is like those small, annoying dogs with high-pitched barks that never, ever stops making noise, even yapping at shadows day-in, day-out. Most people react in one of two ways: either you tune out the yapping or you fight the urge to punt the little mutt into next week. I’m in the punter category. It’s hard not to be. Schiff is one of the most repugnant, obnoxious, and deceitful politicians America has ever seen.

Recently on “The View” on November 9, 2021, and in response to Rep. James Comer on December 9, 2021, on the U.S. House floor, Schiff with his ever-present bug eyes and smarmy smirk once again laid out the Left’s Post-Steele-Dossier-Is-Bunk “case” – and I purposefully use quotes given how absurd it is – on how Donald Trump colluded with the Russians. Schiff’s “case” rests on four claims, which are little more than the thinnest of circumstantial evidence. Were Schiff to present his case to a jury in a courtroom, the jury would laugh at him, which is what serious people should do whenever Schiff talks.

Here are the four claims Schiff makes to prove Trump-Russia collusion and the exculpatory details he conveniently leaves out each time he barks about his “case.”

Trump Asked Russia for Help

Schiff wants you to believe that Trump was so dumb and desperate that ON LIVE NATIONAL TELEVISION IN FRONT OF A ROOM FULL OF HOSTILE REPORTERS Trump was totally serious when he “asked” Russia for help. Specifically, on July 27, 2016, during a nationally televised live news conference at his Doral property in Florida, Trump engaged in an hour-long question-and-answer session with reporters – something Hillary Clinton refused to do. A critical piece of background information is that this press conference occurred smack dab in the middle of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Forgive the lengthy direct quotes below, but Trump jumped around a lot during the press conference due to the questions he got, so to get the full and accurate picture of what he said before and after “asking” Russia for help you need to read about the points he made about Russia and Clinton’s lost emails. Here are Trump’s remarks with the time period noted so you can watch for yourself here.

Response to Russia Question 1 (5:10-7:42 mark)

It’s just a total deflection this whole thing with Russia. In fact, I saw her campaign manager I don’t know his title, Mook, I saw him on television and they asked him about Russia and the hacking. By the way, if they hacked they probably have her 33,000 emails. I hope they do. They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted because you’d see some beauties there. So, let’s see. But, I watched this guy, Mook, and he talked about “we think it was Russia that hacked.” Now, first of all was what was said on those that was so bad but he said—I watched it—I think he was live—he said, “We think it was Russia that hacked” and then he said—and I’m just an innocent person sitting watching television as I’ve been doing—and then he said, “Ahh could be Trump, yeah, yeah Trump-Trump. Oh yeah, Trump!” He reminded me of Jon Lovett for Saturday Night Live in The Liar where he’d go “yeah, yeah, I went to Harvard-Harvard. Yeah, yeah.” This is the guy…you have to see it. “Yeah, yeah, it could be Trump. Yeah-yeah.” So, it is so far-fetched. It’s so ridiculous. Honestly, I wish I had that power. I’d love to have that power. But, Russia has no respect for our country and that’s why..if it is Russia—nobody even knows it’s..it’s probably China or it could be someone sitting in his bed but it shows how weak we are…it shows how disrespected we are…total [garble]…assuming its Russia or China or one of the major countries and competitors it’s a total sign of disrespect for our country. Putin and the leaders throughout the world have no respect for our country anymore and they certainly have no respect for our leader so I know nothing about it. It’s one of the more far-fetched I’ve ever heard.

…

I’ve never met Putin. I don’t know who Putin is. He said one nice thing about me. He said I’m a genius. I said thank you very much to the newspaper and that was the end of it. I never met Putin.

Response to Russia Question 2 (13:00-13:47)

What do I have to get involved with Putin for? I have nothing to do with Putin. I’ve never spoken to him. I don’t know anything about him other than he will respect me. He doesn’t respect our president. And if it is Russia, which it probably is not—nobody knows who it is—but, if it is Russia, it’s really bad for a different reason because it shows how little respect they have for our country when they would hack into a major party and get everything. But it would be interesting to see. I will tell you this ‘Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.’ Let’s see if that happens. That’ll be next.”

Response to Russia Question 3 (51:13-53:08)

I have a real problem when Hillary Clinton who gives open access to a phony server is allowed to get these briefings. How does Hillary Clinton get a National Security briefing when she’s been probably hacked. When so much of her information—the director of the FBI said it was essentially negligent. It was negligent. Now why are they giving her briefings? Why are these people with great knowledge of the inner workings of our country and our security…why are they giving Hillary Clinton briefings? Because it’s going to get revealed..I mean…her number one person, Huma Abedin, is married to Anthony Weiner whose a sleazeball and a pervert..and I’m not saying that…that’s recorded history, right? I don’t like Huma going home at night and telling Anthony Weiner all of these secrets, okay? So, how can Hillary Clinton be briefed on this unbelievably delicate information when it was just proven that she lied and that her server…shouldn’t have had it and that their missing 33,000 emails and that’s just the beginning. So, I don’t think that I know at some point their going to be calling…their going to want to brief me, but I’m not a talker about this stuff. I don’t think that it’s safe to have Hillary Clinton in light of just what happened and in light of what of we just found out I don’t think it’s safe to have Hillary Clinton be briefed on national security because the word will get out.

When reading the entire exchange, Schiff’s premise that Trump “asked” Russia for help totally falls apart for four key reasons. First, part of Trump’s direct quote to Russia contained this vital sentence: “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.” Trump didn’t want Hillary’s missing emails for himself; rather, he assumed the media would get access to the missing emails and report on those likely damaging emails. Would he benefit? Of course, but the story is entirely about Hillary using an illegal server and deleting 33,000 emails at the same time her minions hammered or lost smartphones and used software specifically designed to prevent law enforcement from seeing what exactly was on the server. It is about transparency and accountability.

Don’t think for a moment that Trump’s July comments about Huma Abedin and her pervert husband Anthony Weiner being a massive security risk weren’t in Jim Comey’s head, as well as on the minds of other top FBI leaders and the Clinton Campaign, when Weiner’s laptop was seized as part of an FBI investigation into him sexting with a minor in September 2016. Trump’s comments likely are what forced Comey to reopen the Clinton investigation and send a letter to Congress on October 28, 2016, just days before the 2016 election. Comey wrote: “[T]he FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation…and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information.” Comey knew he had to cover his rear in case news of the laptop emerged after Clinton’s win so he couldn’t be accused of bias.

Though purely lucky, Trump’s Weiner comments in July likely won him the presidency.

Next, we know now thanks to the great work done by U.S. Attorney John Durham and other intrepid investigators that the Clinton Campaign was deathly afraid her server scandal would destroy her chances of winning the 2016 election. To shift the media’s focus to Trump, the Clinton Campaign with Perkins Coie partners Marc Elias and now indicted Michael Sussman, Fusion GPS, British citizen Christopher Steele, indicted Russian Igor Danchenko, longtime Clinton insider Charles Dolan, and a group of tech geeks at Georgia Tech led by Rodney Joffe crafted the Trump-Russia collusion story resting entirely on the bogus Alfa Bank-Trump server story and the thoroughly discredited Christopher Steele dossier.

Then, Trump’s reference above to Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook now looks totally different in today’s light. At the time, it looked like Mook was just spinning to the media to hit Trump. Post-Durham, we know that Mook (with an assist by current National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan) was in heavy damage control because Wikileaks had posted emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee just days before their national convention and they were terrified Hillary’s missing 33,000 emails were next. They were desperate to shift the focus of the media from those emails showing that the DNC and Clinton Campaign conspired to thwart Bernie Sanders to Trump by pushing the Russia collusion story. Due to both the DNC’s refusal via Sussman to give the FBI access to the server and the red flag, unexplained rapid download speed of the emails indicating an internal download to a memory stick, questions persist on whether the hack was in fact Russia or any other external actor.

Finally, during the media exchange, Trump took at 2x4 to Barack Obama by stating that Russia and the rest of the world didn’t respect Obama. This personal attack on Obama’s international credibility would have sent Obama and his team through the roof. If they didn’t have a reason to despise Trump before, they certainly did after that hit. Again, hindsight now puts the January 5, 2017, White House meeting between Obama, Biden, Comey, Valerie Jarrett, James Clapper, and John Brennan about the Steel dossier in a far different light. They wanted to take Trump down and would do so by any means necessary—Jarrett’s cover-their-rears “by the book” email to herself as Trump was being inaugurated notwithstanding.

When you look at the full quote in the context of what we know today, Trump’s comment to Russia looks entirely different and far more innocuous.

Donald Trump Jr.’s June 9, 2016, Meeting at Trump Tower with Russians

The thrust of this claim is that Don Jr. colluded with Russia because he thought he was going to get opposition research that would hurt Clinton from Russian sources. Specifically, long-time Don Jr. acquaintance and publicist Rob Goldstone emailed him about having potential Clinton dirt. Goldstone’s June 3, 2016, email stated:

Emin just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting.

The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.

This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump – helped along by Aras and Emin.

Don Jr. responded:

Thanks Rob I appreciate that. I am on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back?

Factually, there was no dirt provided at the brief meeting. The conversation instead focused on a presentation by Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya on the Magnitsky Act, which she wanted repealed. The meeting wrapped up quickly once Don Jr. realized he had been tricked. Coincidentally (if you believe in such things after all we’ve learned), Veselnitskaya met with FusionGPS head Glenn Simpson before and after she met with Don Jr.

The key to dismissing this Schiff claim is that Don Jr. had no idea it was illegal for campaigns to accept help (i.e., get dirt) from a foreign government or from foreign nationals. As a former opposition researcher for a top U.S. Senate campaign, I didn’t know that either until this episode. During my oppo research days, I would have taken dirt from anyone so long as that dirt wasn’t obtained illegally (i.e., stolen). Unlike Don. Jr. who had no prior experience in U.S. politics, I had been involved in politics for years. Thus, it is a stretch to say the least that Don Jr.’s meeting is proof of Trump-Russia collusion.

Regardless, we now know that while Don Jr. was having his meeting in Trump Tower, the Clinton Campaign through Perkins Coie cutouts Elias and Sussman and through secondary cutouts FusionGPS was itself accepting help from foreign nationals in the persons of British citizen Steele and Russian Danchenko, as well as indirectly through Nolan from Russia government officials.

We also know thanks to Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Trump himself had no knowledge of the meeting. Mueller’s final report stated: “According to written answers submitted by President Trump, he has no recollection of learning of the meeting at the time, and the Office found no documentary evidence showing that he was made aware of the meeting — or its Russian connection — before it occurred.”

Paul Manafort Gave Konstantin Kilimnik Internal Polling Data

Schiff’s third piece of “evidence” that Trump colluded with Russia is that his former Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort gave internal polling data to Ukrainian and suspected Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik. This claim occurred on August 2, 2016, at the Grand Havana Club in New York City. As background, Manafort and Kilimnik were long-time business associates who had worked together on Ukrainian issues. Kilimnik managed Manafort’s office in Kyiv.

The date of the event is important. Trump promoted Manafort to his position on May 19, 2016. On August 14, 2016, the media reported that Manafort’s name appeared in a black ledger re Ukrainian corruption. With days of that story, Trump fired Manafort. Firing the guy who would theoretically have the goods on you colluding with Russia would seem to be a pretty stupid decision by Trump. Yet, he fired Manafort. Why? He didn’t want Manafort’s own troubling business dealings to negatively impact his campaign.

Critically, there has never been any evidence that Trump had any knowledge that Manafort shared the internal polling data with Kilimnik. As reported, “Mueller’s team said it couldn’t ‘reliably determine’ Manafort’s purpose in sharing it, nor assess what Kilimnik may have done with it.” Mueller stated that Trump didn’t know what Manafort did and that his team couldn’t determine why he shared it or what Kilimnik did with the information. The obvious answer is the Manafort shared the information with a trusted, long-time business associate to let him know where things stood. After all, if Trump won, Manafort’s star would have risen substantially.                 

Kremlin’s Clandestine Social Media Campaign/Trump Campaign Contacts

Schiff’s last claim rests entirely on inference. Everyone knows Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election, as it and other countries routinely did in the 2012 and 2020 elections and as we routinely do in their elections. The totality of the Russian interference consisted of fake Facebook social media groups and ads. These fake groups put together a couple dozen rallies in support of Trump. As reported, “Many of the rallies drew few participants, while others drew hundreds.” Thus, the interference was a total dud.

On occasion, Russians behind the fake social media accounts interacted with the Trump campaign at lower levels. As reported, “Russian operatives also communicated with the Trump campaign under false identities ‘without revealing their Russian association.’” To repeat, Russian operatives hid who they really were so when they interacted with Trump campaign staff, those campaign staff had no idea they were dealing with Russians.

To bolster that fact, in his report, Mueller noted, “The investigation has not identified evidence that any Trump campaign official understood the requests were coming from foreign nationals.” Even more, “The report clarifies that in the cases in which a pro-Trump, IRA-organized rally also coordinated with Trump’s campaign, the campaign was not aware of the origins of the organizers. The IRA’s contacts included requests for signs and other materials to use at rallies, as well as requests to promote the rallies and help coordinate logistics.” End of story.

The Kitchen Sink

Other than those four claims, Schiff then typically throws in the kitchen sink by including Trump’s telephone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he raised the Hunter-Joe Biden-Burisma scandal and that Trump “incited” an insurrection on January 6, 2021. You know the details of the Ukraine call given Trump was impeached over it.

As for inciting an insurrection, I’ll just note two facts. First, Trump’s specifically stated expressly to rally attendees, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." I’m not sure how much clearer Trump could have been. What happened thereafter was tragic, but it wasn’t because Trump incited an insurrection. Nothing he said from November 3, 2020, to January 6, 2021, was any different or worse than what Democrats and their candidates said (and Clinton still says) in 2000, 2004, and 2016 when their presidential candidate lost. Secondly, that, despite expending endless resources to find evidence thereof, not a single rioter on January 6, 2021, has been charged with insurrection.

So, that is the sum total of Schiff’s Trump-Russia collusion “case” now that Durham has indisputably and unequivocally debunked both the Steele Dossier and the Alfa Bank-Trump server charges. Look, it must be very hard for Democrats and their media colluders to have spent five years peddling lies to be left holding an empty bag, especially one involving your mortal enemy Trump. Ethical and morally upright people would apologize and spend time reflecting on what they did wrong to ensure they never do it again. Sadly, Schiff et al. aren’t ethical or moral.

As a result, when Republicans take back the U.S. House in January 2023, one of the first orders of business should be to hold Schiff accountable for his actions. To do so, Republicans should remove him from all committees, revoke his security clearance, and launch an investigation of him and everyone who worked for him by getting all government and personal email and telephone records, as well as any communications that occurred using encrypted apps, to determine who among them leaked classified information to the media, which we know occurred. They should do the same to Eric Swalwell. Once they find the evidence, Schiff or his staff who leaked should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

This type of abuse must never happen again. If Schiff isn’t punished for his actions, it most certainly will when he again gets his hands on power. In the meantime, he should shut up already.