House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he should have been “much more clear” about the contact his committee had with the whistleblower who spurred an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, the California Democrat expressed regret for saying his committee hadn’t been in contact with the whistleblower when it actually had. Schiff was given four Pinocchios by the Washington Post fact-checker for saying last month that he and his panel “have not spoken directly” with the unnamed CIA officer.
“I should have been much more clear,” Schiff said Sunday. “I was referring to the fact that when the whistleblower filed the complaint, we had not heard from the whistleblower. We wanted to bring the whistleblower in at that time, but I should have been much more clear about that.”
Earlier this month it was revealed that Schiff, 59, did, in fact, know details about the whistleblower’s complaint against Trump before it was formally filed. The whistleblower reached out and made contact with one of the committee aides beforehand, who then told Schiff about the conversation but reportedly didn’t reveal the whistleblower's identity.
The complaint alleges that Trump improperly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. Democrats initially said they were investigating whether a quid pro quo was involved, although Schiff said Sunday that a quid pro quo is not necessary for Trump's request to be an impeachable offense.
