Rep. Adam Schiff
Frustrating is mounting against Schiff, D-CA, and so is patience among those in the administration, Congressional lawmakers and intelligence community who believe the American people have a right to see for themselves the testimony given by 53 witnesses behind closed doors during Congressional investigations into the FBI's handling of the Russia probe.
There's a reason Schiff is fighting back, despite the unanimous bipartisan vote to release the transcripts in the fall of 2018. Schiff doesn't want you to know the truth. The truth will destroy his credibility and the deceitful disinformation campaign he worked so hard to spread against President Donald Trump and his administration for years. This is the major reason why he has fought so diligently against his own committee's vote and why he has scrambled behind the scenes on Capitol Hill to keep the documents, which should have been made public within weeks or months of the vote, from every seeing the light of day.
Many sources in the administration, who are familiar with the process, have said the same.
"It's really concerning Adam Schiff is negating the bipartisan vote to release these transcripts to the public," said an administration official, with knowledge of the declassification process. "He's even going against his own prior statements about transparency. Schiff obviously wants to control what people see in a desperate bid to keep the discredited Russia collusion narrative alive."
Schiff's narrative, which is already laden with holes, will completely fall apart if the transcripts of the 53 witnesses in the FBI's 'so-called' Russia collusion probe go public. According to sources, 43 of the transcripts have already been declassified. Ranking Republican member Devin Nunes has pointed the finger at Schiff, saying he is acting as a blockade in preventing the release of the documents. Nunes, who was a guest on the Sara Carter Show last month, also stressed the importance of making public the secret testimony of former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, in which he discussed his controversial handling of the so-called whistleblower complaint regarding Trump and Ukraine. Nunes said, like the transcripts regarding the Russia hoax, Schiff is fighting to keep Atkinson's testimony secret. Nunes, along with other senior Republican lawmakers, have an ongoing investigation into Atkinson. Without sharing details, Nunes said Atkinson either lied to members of Congress or he needed to 'seriously' clarify his statements.
Some of the testimony being kept from the public includes former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, longtime Trump friend Roger Stone, as well as former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. There's also testimony of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Perkins Coie lawyers Michael Sussman, a former DOJ lawyer who passed along alleged details about Russian interference to former FBI general counsel James Baker. Moreover, there is Don Jr's testimony, former White House aide Hope Hicks and Marc Elias, the chairman who was the Clinton campaign's general counsel that hired the embattled research firm Fusion GPS to investigate the debunked theory that Trump conspired with Russia.
Those transcripts have been kept from the public by Schiff, D-CA, because it is damaging to their "impeachment scam," said Nunes on the podcast.
But pressure is mounting and more and more against Schiff.
Last week, John Solomon with Just The News, published a letter Schiff sent in 2019 to then DNI Dan Coats.
The letter specifically ordered that the witness transcripts not be shared with President Trump, nor the White House lawyers. He made this clear, even if the declassification process required sharing, Solomon noted.
"Under no circumstances shall ODNI, or any other element of the Intelligence Community (IC), share any HPSCI transcripts with the White House, President Trump or any persons associated with the White House or the President," Schiff wrote in a March 26, 2019 letter to then-Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
"Such transcripts remain the sole property of HPSCI, and were transmitted to ODNI for the limited purpose of enabling a classification review by IC elements and the Department of Justice," Schiff added.
On Friday, a senior intelligence official told the The Washington Examiner that "Schiff is thwarting the will of the House Intelligence Committee as expressed in the bipartisan vote in September 2018 to make these transcripts public. He has appointed himself arbiter of what the public should see and has refused to allow the White House to review its own equities, making declassification of 10 of the transcripts impossible. It's difficult to imagine any motive other than Schiff is still trying to control the narrative on Russia collusion."
Schiff, on the other hand, is deflecting and instead has attempted to accuse acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell of 'undermining critical intelligence functions.' Nothing could be further from the truth, as I recently reported.
Grenell is in the process of restructuring the DNI. It is something that should have happened years ago. Further, Grenell has been overseeing changes that have had consequences for U.S. national security after numerous classified leaks have found their way to the media after private briefings to congressional members.
Grenell argued in a recent letter to Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, that leaks to the media after classified intelligence briefings with lawmakers on foreign election interference have presented serious concerns and mounting challenges for the intelligence community. Grenell noted that those leaks give "our adversaries unnecessary advantage during a critical time for our nation," stated the letter which was first published by SaraACarter.com.
In fact, it is presumed that Schiff has leaked significant information and even lied about that information to the media. He manipulates information that public can't see for themselves.
On one side, he argues for having access to more classified information but on the other side he wants to keep information that's already been declassified from the public. All you have to do is ask why?
For nearly four years the Democrats and former senior officials from the Obama administration have done everything in their power to create a narrative that has divided our country and destroyed lives. Those officials have tainted agencies like the FBI, CIA and other intelligence services by weaponizing the system against political opponents.
Schiff has played a significant role in aiding those officials, like former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey and others to do so.
If Schiff has nothing to hide and nothing to worry about then he needs to move out of the way. If he does have something to hide, he will continue to fight to keep the American public in the dark.
Here's my message to Schiff: If you want transparency Chairman let's have it, release your blockade on the 53 transcripts and let the American people decide for themselves.
Not sure how that is even possible...it is not classified, it is not 'work product' belonging to an attorney, it is information that was paid for by and belongs to the American people...