The Wall Street Journal editorial board urged the media and the public to never again trust House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff because of his repeated claims over the years that there was evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The editorial, which was published on Tuesday, reacted to the House Intelligence Committee releasing dozens of witness interview transcripts and related material regarding its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Schiff spread falsehoods shamelessly about Russia and Donald Trump for three years even as his own committee gathered contrary evidence,” it wrote. The editorial board also argued the California Democrat had previously held up the release of the transcripts because they didn’t align with what he was saying publicly.
The piece included direct quotes from Schiff’s television appearances in which he touted his committee’s findings of “more than circumstantial evidence” regarding the Trump campaign’s alleged partnership with Russia, which he said on MSNBC in March 2017.
“The Russians offered help. The campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help, and the president made full use of that help,” the Intel chairman said on CNN later that year.
The editorial board noted that the transcripts showed that several top intelligence, law enforcement, and national security officials from the Obama administration all denied seeing evidence of collusion even as Schiff said such evidence did exist.
The editorial board also compared how Schiff and President Trump are treated by the media regarding their willingness to spread “falsehoods.”
“President Trump often spreads falsehoods and invents facts, but at least he’s paid a price for it in media criticism and public mistrust,” the piece concludes. “An industry of media fact checkers is dedicated to parsing his every word. As for Mr. Schiff, no one should ever believe another word he says.”
