Trump’s not going away — and neither is investigator Schiff
WASHINGTON >> Nearly a year out of the White House, Donald Trump continues to circle the Republican Party, commanding attention and influence as he ponders another run for the presidency.
And still circling Trump is Rep. Adam Schiff.
Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman who rose to national prominence probing Russian election interference and leading the first Trump impeachment, says there’s nothing less than democracy at stake with the former president’s continued presence on the national political stage.
As a key member of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Insurrection at the Capitol, the congressman whom Trump mercilessly mocks with derisive nicknames is turning his attention to Trump’s role in that deadly riot.
“We want to show the country just how Jan. 6 came about — and not just the mechanics of that day, in terms of the participation of the white nationalist groups ... but rather how this big falsehood about our elections propelled thousands of people to attack their own government,” Schiff says in an interview on C-SPAN’s Book TV, airing a week from Sunday.
“What did the president know about who was coming to this rally and what did he do when he found out?” Schiff asks. “Why did it go on so long? And so there are a lot of important unanswered questions.”
As the committee ramps up its inquiry, it’s a familiar role but also a new chapter for Schiff, the federal prosecutor turned congressman whose life’s work is now defined in large part by the man he calls a “clear and present danger” to U.S. democracy.