A spokesman for House Intelligence Committee
Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., acknowledged for the first time
on Wednesday that the whistleblower alleging misconduct in the White House had
reached out to Schiff's panel before filing a complaint -- prompting President Trump, in
an extraordinary afternoon news conference at the White House, to accuse
Schiff directly of helping write the document.
Schiff had previously claimed in a televised interview that
"we have not spoken directly with the whistleblower." A Schiff
spokesperson seemingly narrowed that claim late Wednesday, telling Fox News that
Schiff himself "does not know the identity of the whistleblower, and has
not met with or spoken with the whistleblower or their counsel" for any
reason.
An aide to Schiff insisted that when
Schiff mentioned "we" had not spoken to the whistleblower, he
was referring to members of the full House intelligence committee, rather than
staff. NBC National Security reporter Ken Dilanian flagged Schiff's explanation
as "deceptive" late Wednesday.
"It shows that Schiff is a fraud. ... I think it's a
scandal that he knew before," Trump said, as the president of Finland
stood at an adjacent podium. "I'd go a step further. I'd say he
probably helped write it. ... That's a big story.
Referring to Schiff -- a Trump antagonist who has
long claimed to have surefire evidence that Trump illegally
conspired with Russians -- as "Shifty Schiff," Trump
characterized Democrats' impeachment inquiry as a "fraudulent crime
on the American people." (Earlier in the day, Trump described the inquiry as "BULLS---," and
mocked Schiff as a partisan "lowlife.")
President Trump responds to report that Adam Schiff received early account of whistleblower complaint
At the press conference, Trump suggested Schiff had a
"mental breakdown" and may have committed a
crime by reciting an inaccurate,
exaggerated version of a transcript of Trump's fateful July call with
Ukraine's leader -- a move that Schiff himself later apologetically acknowledged
was a "parody."
-----
Schiff defenders are
claiming there’s nothing to see here in the revelation that the whistleblower
conferred with Schiff staff before filing the complaint. If that’s so, why
didn’t Schiff acknowledge the contact when asked about it?
I think the answer is
obvious. He knew how it would look. So he gave this answer, “We have not spoken
directly with the whistleblower.” If by “we” he meant only himself, he’s being
slippery. If by “we” he meant himself and his staff, he lied.
Trump also called Joe and Hunter
Biden "stone-cold crooked," citing Hunter Biden's
lucrative business dealings in Ukraine while his father was vice
president. Trump went on to threaten litigation concerning what he called
false accusations by "the fake news media" and "in many cases,
the corrupt media."
"He knew long before, and he helped
write it too. It's a scam."
— President Trump
Responding to Trump's comments, whistleblower attorney
Mark Zaid said in a statement to Fox News: "I can unequivocally state that
neither any member of the legal team nor the whistleblower has ever met or
spoken with Congressman Schiff about this matter.”
The whirlwind day in Washington kicked into gear when The
New York Times reported earlier Wednesday that Schiff "learned
about the outlines" of the whistleblower's complaint "days
before" it was filed.
Speaking to Fox News, Schiff's office denied that the
intelligence committee had reviewed or received the complaint in advance, but
largely confirmed the Times' reporting.
“Like other whistleblowers have done before and since
under Republican and Democratic-controlled Committees, the whistleblower
contacted the Committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing
within the jurisdiction of the Intelligence Community," Patrick Boland, a
spokesman for Schiff and the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox
News. "This is a regular occurrence, given the Committee’s unique
oversight role and responsibilities. Consistent with the Committee’s
longstanding procedures, Committee staff appropriately advised the
whistleblower to contact an Inspector General and to seek legal counsel."
Boland added: “At no point did the Committee review
or receive the complaint in advance. The Office of the Director of National
Intelligence, at the behest of the White House, refused to disclose the subject
matter or the substance of the complaint to the Committee, despite its lawful
obligation to do so, and despite the fact it was deemed ‘credible’ and of
‘urgent concern’ by the Intelligence Community Inspector General. The Committee
did not receive the complaint until the night before the Acting Director of
National Intelligence’s open hearing before the Committee – more than three
weeks after the legal deadline by which the Committee should have received the
complaint."
Boland went on to assert that the whistleblower should be
"commended."
Other GOP sources told Fox News that the development
was unsettling and undermined the integrity of the Democrats' ongoing
impeachment inquiry.
Republicans have suggested other Democrats besides Schiff
may have had advance notice. House Republican Conference Chairman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Monday pushed for answers on
how much top Democrats knew about the explosive White House whistleblower's complaint before it was officially
made, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's head-turning comments during a
televised interview on Sunday.
"He told me it was perfect, that there was nothing
on the call," Pelosi, D-Calif., said on CBS News' "60 Minutes,"
referring to a conversation she had with President Trump before the Trump
administration released either
"But, I know what was in the call," Pelosi
continued, before quickly adding, "I mean, uh, it was in the public
domain."
Pelosi's remark drew scrutiny from Republicans because no
verbatim account of Trump's call had yet been made publicly available.
"@SpeakerPelosi
said on 60 Minutes last night she knew the details of the classified Ukraine
call before White House released transcript," Cheney tweeted. "This
is starting to seem like a political set up. So, Madame Speaker, 'what did you
know and when did you know it?'”
Speaking to Fox News, Pelosi communications
director Ashley Etienne said the House speaker was referring only to
publicly available information, and that Cheney had misinterpreted the question
Pelosi had been asked. Etienne insisted that to her knowledge, Pelosi was not
made aware of the whistleblower complaint or the contents of the transcript
before they were publicly released.
The inspector general for the intelligence community said
earlier this week that the whistleblower claimed to have firsthand
knowledge of misconduct -- a claim that appeared to conflict with
documents sent to Congress and the director of national intelligence.
The lengthy statement Monday was posted in response to
questions, raised in the media and by congressional Republicans, about
the disclosure form filed by the whistleblower, who first flagged concerns
about President Trump's July phone call in which he asked the leader of
Ukraine to "look into" actions by the Bidens. The IG said
the whistleblower stated on an initial form Aug. 12
"that he or she possessed both first-hand and other information."
According to the watchdog, the whistleblower
"checked two relevant boxes" on the form: One stating, "I have personal and/or
direct knowledge of events or records involved”; and the other box stating,
“Other employees have told me about events or records involved.”
However, the declassified whistleblower complaint sent to
Congress last week stated: "I was not a direct witness to most of the
events described. However, I found my colleagues’ accounts of these events
to be credible because, in almost all cases, multiple officials recounted fact
patterns that were consistent with one another."
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this
report.
