Trump lashes out at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff
President Trump is lashing out at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for what he claims to be "presidential harassment" after Schiff announced that he would be pursuing further investigations on the president. The investigations would be part of the Democrat-driven probe of Russian influence in the 2016 election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
"So now Congressman Adam Schiff announces, after having found zero Russian Collusion, that he is going to be looking at every aspect of my life, both financial and personal, even though there is no reason to be doing so. Never happened before! Unlimited Presidential Harassment" Mr. Trump tweeted on Thursday.
He added, "The Dems and their committees are going 'nuts.' The Republicans never did this to President Obama, there would be no time left to run government. I hear other committee heads will do the same thing. Even stealing people who work at White House! A continuation of Witch Hunt!"
"PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!" he said in a third tweet. "It should never be allowed to happen again!"
The president's latest comments come after he called Schiff a "political hack" during a White House event on Wednesday, saying the congressman has "no basis" for his probe and is "trying to build a name for himself."
Schiff said lawmakers on the House panel are "not going to be intimidated or threatened by the president to withhold any legislative advancement if we do our proper oversight."
The chairman said in a statement that the committee's new investigative threads include:
- The scope and scale of the Russian government's operations to influence the U.S. political process and the U.S. government's response during and since the 2016 election
- The extent of any links and/or coordination between the Russian government or related foreign actors and individuals associated with Mr. Trump's campaign, transition, administration or business interests, in furtherance of the Russian government's interests
- Whether any foreign actor has sought to compromise or holds leverage, financial or otherwise, over Mr. Trump, his family, his business or his associates
- Whether Mr. Trump, his family or his associates are or were at any time at heightened risk of, or vulnerable to, foreign exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure or coercion or have sought to influence U.S. government policy in service of foreign interests
- Whether any actors – foreign or domestic – sought or are seeking to impede, obstruct and/or mislead authorized investigations into these matters, including those in Congress.
During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Mr. Trump made an appeal to Congress to limit what he called "ridiculous partisan investigations."
Olivia Gazis contributed to this report
