Schiff: Russia and Trump are threats to democracy
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House committee probing Russian election meddling said Tuesday that America’s “democracy is under threat” from Russia — and also from President Donald Trump.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Trump is trying to undermine the investigations and the news media.
“I do feel our democracy is under threat,” Schiff said in an Associated Press interview.
He said Russia poses an external threat, but “in many respects, the challenge from within is more serious because we have a president who takes issue with the First Amendment and a president who describes the press as an enemy of the people.”
Schiff also criticized Republican congressional leaders for not challenging Trump on that and other issues. And he said Trump is trying to “disparage” the credibility of the FBI and congressional probes into Russia’s interference in U.S. elections and whether his own 2016 campaign was involved.
“So no matter what is produced, he can say it’s a fake,” Schiff said.
His remarks come as Trump travels through Asia. Trump has insisted special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe has nothing to do with him and little to do with his campaign.
But the investigations are churning back in Washington. Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign, has acknowledged in testimony to Congress that he had contact with a high-level Russian official while on a trip to Russia last year, according to a transcript released Monday.
Schiff pinned some blame for what he sees as a threat to democracy on House and Senate leaders for not challenging Trump at key moments.