The Washington Post gave House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff four pinocchios over his claim that neither he nor his staff had spoken to the whistleblower before he filed his complaint regarding a phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Schiff told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower. We would like to.”
However, a New York Times report published earlier this week confirmed that the whistleblower had been in contact with an Intelligence Committee aid before the complaint had been officially filed. (RELATED: Adam Schiff Accuses Trump Of ‘Mafia-Like Shakedown’ Of Ukrainian President)
Committe Chairman Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, opens the hearing to hear testimony from Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on September 26, 2019, in Washington, DC. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
“This is flat-out false,” The Post’s Glenn Kessler wrote of Schiff’s claims on MSNBC. “Unlike the quick two-step dance he performed with Anderson Cooper, Schiff simply says the committee had not spoken to the whistleblower. Now we know that’s not true.”
Kessler wrote that Schiff was not simply attempting to dodge a question, but to mislead the American public.
“There’s nothing wrong with dodging a question, as long as you don’t try to mislead,” he wrote. “But Schiff on ‘Morning Joe’ clearly made a statement that was false.”
“He compounded his falsehood by telling reporters a few days later that if not for the IG’s office, the committee would not have known about the complaint,” Kessler continued. “That again suggested there had been no prior communication.”
In addition to his misleading statements about his contact with the whistleblower, Schiff has come under fire for fabricating the transcript between Trump and Zelensky at an Intelligence Committee hearing last week. Trump responded to Schiff’s statements by calling for his resignation, and even suggesting that he should be arrested for treason.