Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday blasted his Republican colleagues in response to a call for his resignation, listing all of the scandals between President Trump and the Russian government and concluding: “You might say that’s just what you need to do to win, but I don’t think it’s OK.”
In the wake of the news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller would not formally be charging President Trump at the conclusion of his investigation into Russian meddling, all nine Republicans on the House Intel Committee signed a letter calling on the California Democrat to resign and announced it at the Thursday morning hearing.
“As you have chosen—instead of addressing the hearing—to simply attack me, consistent with the president’s attacks, I do want to respond in this way,” said Schiff. “My colleagues may think it’s OK that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate for president as part of what was described as the Russian government’s effort to help the Trump campaign. You might think that’s OK. My colleagues might think it’s OK that when that was offered to the son of the president, who had a pivotal role in the campaign, that the president’s son did not call the FBI, he did not adamantly refuse that foreign help.”
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Schiff continued: “No, instead that son said that he would love the help of the Russians. You might think it’s OK that he took that meeting. You might think it’s OK that Paul Manafort, the campaign chair, someone with great experience in running campaigns, also took that meeting. You might think it’s OK that the president’s son-in-law also took that meeting. You might think it’s OK they concealed it from the public.”
Schiff was referring, among other things, to the 2016 Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Russian officials.
“You might say that’s all OK,” Schiff continued. “You might say that’s just what you need to do to win. But I don’t think it’s OK. I think it’s immoral, I think it’s unethical, I think it’s unpatriotic, and yes, I think it’s corrupt.”
