President Donald Trump and senior White House staff are irate after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff hired a former ex-National Security Council (NSC) aide.
The dispute came to light after Trump tweeted early Thursday morning that Schiff is “stealing people who work at the White House.”
….The Dems and their committees are going “nuts.” The Republicans never did this to President Obama, there would be no time left to run government. I hear other committee heads will do the same thing. Even stealing people who work at White House! A continuation of Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2019
Trump’s tweet remained unclear throughout the day until Schiff replied to media requests by saying, “we have a long tradition of hiring out of the intelligence community, out of the NSC. If the president is worried about our hiring any former administration people, maybe he should work on being a better employer.”
Schiff’s committee hired former NSC staffer Abigail Grace, who was a career official in her term at the White House. Much of the NSC staff is composed of career officials detailed from different intelligence organizations.
Democratic Representative Adam Schiff speaks during The 2018 New Yorker Festival on October 5, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for The New Yorker)
An administration official told The Daily Caller that the president is particularly concerned that Schiff is hiring away ex-White House staffers to gleam inside information. The president’s fears were particularly inflamed after Schiff released a statement Wednesday that said he would open investigations into Trump’s personal finances. (RELATED: Trump Reams Schiff For ‘Presidential Harrassment’)
Schiff said he would look into “whether President Trump, his family, or his associates are or were at any time at heightened risk of, or vulnerable to, foreign exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure, or coercion, or have sought to influence U.S. government policy in service of foreign interests.”
He also did not rule out inquiry beyond these personal matters, writing, “The Committee may pursue additional lines of inquiry regarding matters that arise from the investigation, and it intends to cooperate with other congressional committees, as needed, on matters of overlapping interest.”
Rep. Adam Schiff appears on CNN’s SOTU, 11/25/18/Screen Shot
Trump responded to Schiff’s statement Wednesday by saying, “he’s just a political hack trying to build a name for himself,” and unleashing a series of tweets Thursday morning.
So now Congressman Adam Schiff announces, after having found zero Russian Collusion, that he is going to be looking at every aspect of my life, both financial and personal, even though there is no reason to be doing so. Never happened before! Unlimited Presidential Harassment….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2019
The president made possible investigations of his administration by the new House Democratic leadership a fixture of his Tuesday State of the Union address saying, “an economic miracle is taking place in the United States — and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations.”
“If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn’t work that way!” he added.