As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and, later, House Democrats’ lead impeachment manager in the Senate’s trial, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has long been at the forefront of efforts to oust President Donald Trump.
But while he may have needed a high-level security clearance to compile the evidence that ultimately failed to convict Trump, given his rocky relationship with the truth, Schiff ought not have his clearance much longer, says one former Republican congressman.
“I still, to this day, do not understand why Adam Schiff has a security clearance,” former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz told Fox News on Tuesday, according to the Washington Examiner. “He continues to lie. He continues to put out information that he knows is not true.”
Chaffetz: Adam Schiff knowingly lies and should not have a security clearancehttps://t.co/XKVzglRXwN
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) February 4, 2020
Too many lies
Schiff’s use of dishonest tactics is well-documented. Even The Washington Post had to rate the California Democrat’s September 2019 claim that his team had not spoken with the so-called Ukraine “whistleblower” as false, awarding the congressman’s assertion “Four Pinocchios.”
Schiff also read out an altered version of Trump’s July 2019 telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a House hearing before later attempting to justify the move as an act of parody.
“He has stood in front of the United States Senate and talked about things that are not in the impeachment,” Chaffetz noted Tuesday in his talk with Fox & Friends.
“Go look in the mirror”
The former congressman also addressed a bizarre claim that Schiff advanced during President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.
“If abuse of power is not impeachable…Trump could offer Alaska to the Russians in exchange for support in the next election or decide to move to Mar-a-Lago permanently and let Jared Kushner run the country, delegating to him the decision whether to go to war,” Schiff said, as he made the case for the president’s removal.
But as far as Chaffetz is concerned, arguments like those are impossible to regard seriously.
“Give away Alaska?” he responded incredulously. “And how do they, Democrats, with a straight face say we can’t have Donald Trump in the presidency because, well, we are worried about the integrity of the election?
“Time to maybe go look in the mirror here a little bit, folks,” the Utah Republican added, according to the Examiner.
“Revoke his clearance now”
Schiff isn’t the only one facing questions about his security clearance. Last week, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) wanted to know why former National Security adviser John Bolton still has his, too.
“No one, especially not John Bolton, should be able to use their security clearance for profit!” Paul tweeted Saturday. “I say revoke his clearance now.”
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