UK DAILY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: Adam Schiff sent his staff to try and
collect 'classified materials for the FBI' after Russian pranksters told him
Putin has NAKED blackmail pictures of Trump
Spoofed: Adam Schiff,
the ranking Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, had a
seven-minute conversation with Russian comedians who offered him fake
'kompromat' including naked pictures of President Trump.
- · Adam Schiff, the ranking Democratic member of the House Intel Committee was recorded speaking to Russian pranksters who spun elaborate 'kompromat' tale
- · He told Vocan and Lexus, two radio pranksters who have also hit Nikki Haley, that he would pass their claims to the FBI in a call made last year
- · The duo posed as a fake Ukrainian politician to say Trump had sex with Russian glamour model Olga Buzova after a Miss Universe pageant in 2013
- · In the call they said Putin had been passed naked pictures of Trump and now-president had used secret codes for talks with Russians
- · Duo gave emails to DailyMail.com which showed Schiff's staff trying to arrange to collect 'classified' documents from Ukraine's embassy in D.C.
- · Schiff's office claimed he was not fooled by the call and reported it to 'authorities' but did not explain why his staff kept up correspondence
- · Call posted in April 2017 surfaced as Schiff waits to see if Trump will declassify his Democratic version of the Devin Nunes memo which shamed the FBI
DailyMail.com can disclose that after the prank, his staff
engaged in correspondence with what they thought was a Ukrainian politician to
try to obtain the 'classified' material promised on the call.
On an audio recording of the prank call posted online,
Adam Schiff can be heard discussing the committee's Russia investigation
and increasingly bizarre allegations about Trump with a man who claimed to be
Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.
The call, made a year ago, was actually from two Russian
comedians nicknamed 'Vovan' and 'Lexus' who have become notorious for their
phony calls to high-ranking American officials and celebrities, including UN
Ambassador Nikki Haley and Elton John.
Its existence was first reported by The Atlantic but not how a staff member
working for the minority on the House Intelligence Committee pursued the
information after the call.
Schiff's office said the congressman suspected the call
was 'bogus' from the beginning and reported it to authorities afterward.
But in a recording of the eight minute conversation,
Schiff appeared to take the call seriously – or at least played along
convincingly - and emails from the Democrat's staff to the fake politician
afterwards said he had found it 'productive'.
Schiff began the call by thanking the 'chairman' Andriy
Parubiy for his time and warning him that Russian spies were likely listening
in.
'I would caution that our Russian friends may be
listening to the conversation so I wouldn't share anything over the phone that
you wouldn't want them to hear,' said Schiff.
Vovan, who was posing as Parubiy, reassured Schiff: 'I
don't think that will impact on our investigation.'
The fake Parubiy claimed the Ukrainian government had
obtained recordings and documents that proved Vladimir Putin was blackmailing
Trump with naked photos taken during an affair between the president and a
Russian glamour model.
Vovan also claimed the Ukrainians recorded secret
meetings between a Trump campaign aide and a famous Russian singer-turned-spy
that took place at a non-existent mafia hangout in the Brooklyn neighborhood of
Brighton Beach.
Schiff appeared to be taking notes on the conversation
and repeatedly asked for spellings of names and documentation he could send to
the FBI.
'I'll be in touch with the FBI about this. And we'll make
arrangements with your staff. I think it probably would be best to provide
these materials both to our committee and to the FBI,' said Schiff during the
conversation, which lasted around eight minutes according to the recording
posted to YouTube.
A spokesperson for Schiff confirmed he was on the call
but claimed the congressman had suspicions that the caller might not be Parubiy
and reported it to law enforcement last April.
'Both before and after the call, we were aware that it
was likely bogus and had already alerted appropriate law enforcement personnel,
as well as after the call,' the spokesperson said.
'Obviously, it was bogus - which became even more evident
during the call - but as with any investigation that is global in scale, we
have to chase any number of leads, many of which turn out to be duds.'
The spokesperson declined to address on the record why a
staff member pursued the 'politician' after the call if the congressman thought
it was fake.
The FBI said it could not comment on whether it received
or investigated any information about nude Trump photos or other alleged
Russian 'Kompromat' from Schiff.
'We do not disclose whether not a complaint has been
received,' an FBI spokesman told DailyMail.com. 'We neither confirm nor deny
the existence of an investigation.'
Schiff and Trump have publicly feuded over the past week
in the wake of a classified memo released by House Intelligence Committee
Republicans, which alleged that the FBI used abusive tactics to obtain a
surveillance warrant against a Trump campaign aide.
Schiff has been one of the most high profile Democrats in
congress investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and
Russian government officials during the election.
Trump slammed Schiff on Twitter on Monday, calling the
congressman 'Little Adam Schiff' and claiming he leaked classified information
from closed hearings of the House Intelligence Committee.
'Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher
office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there
with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper!' said Trump on Twitter. 'Adam leaves
closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!'
The congressman from California shot back that the
president was spreading 'false smears.'
'[T]he American people would appreciate it if you turned
off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or...really
anything else,' said Schiff on Twitter.
The comedians Vovan and Lexus – whose real names are
Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov – drew international attention last
year for their prank calls to Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Sen. John
McCain.
The phone conversation with Schiff took place early last
April as the House Intelligence Committee ramped up its investigation into
alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election.
Vovan and Lexus told DailyMail.com that it took them just
30 minutes to get the congressman on the phone after calling his office
pretending to be Parubiy.
'[Schiff] was pretty serious. He wrote all what we said
on the paper. Remembered all the details,' said Lexus.
Lexus said the congressman's aide also followed up with
them by email after the call and asked them to send the materials to the
Ukrainian embassy so that one of Schiff's staffers could pick up the documents.
The comedians claimed they would transfer the documents
to Schiff through the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly.
Lexus and Vovan provided emails to the DailyMail.com
which appear to show Schiff's staff discussing the documents after the call.
'I understand Mr. Schiff had a productive call with Mr.
Parubiy, and that Mr. Parubiy would like to make some material available to Mr.
Schiff through your embassy,' wrote Schiff aide Rheanne Wirkkala to the
pranksters, according to the April 4, 2017 email.
