Adam Schiff Hits Back At GOP Resignation Request

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In a nearly 6-minute speech — Congressman Adam Schiff blasted House Intelligence Republicans over calls for him to resign — all while making a case for collusion between President Trump and Russia.

Transcript

00:00I don't think it's okay. I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical. I think it's unpatriotic.

00:07And yes, I think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion.

00:12Your actions, both past and present, are incompatible with your duty as chairman of this committee,

00:32which alone, and the House of Representatives, has the obligation and authority to provide

00:36effective oversight of the U.S. intelligence community. As such, we have no faith in your

00:41ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your constitutional responsibility

00:46and urge your immediate resignation as chairman of the committee.

00:49As you have chosen, instead of addressing the hearing to simply attack me,

00:54consistent with the president's attacks, I do want to respond in this way.

01:00My colleagues may think it's okay that the Russians offered dirt on the Democratic

01:06candidate for president as part of what was described as the Russian government's effort

01:11to help the Trump campaign. You might think that's okay. My colleagues might think it's okay

01:18that when that was offered to the son of the president, who had a pivotal role in the campaign,

01:24that the president's son did not call the FBI. He did not adamantly refuse that foreign help.

01:32No, instead, that son said that he would love the help of the Russians.

01:37You might think it's okay that he took that meeting. You might think it's okay that Paul

01:43Manafort, the campaign chair, someone with great experience in running campaigns,

01:47also took that meeting. You might think it's okay that the president's son-in-law

01:53also took that meeting. You might think it's okay that they concealed it from the public.

01:57You might think it's okay that their only disappointment after that meeting was that

02:02the dirt they received on Hillary Clinton wasn't better.

02:05You might think that's okay. You might think it's okay that when it was discovered a year later,

02:12that they lied about that meeting and said it was about adoptions. You might think it's okay

02:16that the president is reported to have helped dictate that lie. You might think that's okay.

02:21I don't. You might think it's okay that the campaign chairman of a presidential campaign

02:29would offer information about that campaign to a Russian government.

02:33Information about that campaign to a Russian oligarch in exchange for money or debt forgiveness.

02:38You might think that's okay. I don't. You might think it's okay that that campaign chairman

02:46offered polling data. Campaign polling data to someone linked to Russian intelligence.

02:52I don't think that's okay. You might think it's okay that the president himself called on Russia

02:58to hack his opponent's emails if they were listening. You might think it's okay that later

03:04that day, in fact, the Russians attempted to hack a server affiliated with that campaign.

03:09I don't think that's okay. You might think that it's okay that the president's son-in-law

03:16sought to establish a secret back channel of communications with the Russians through a

03:22Russian diplomatic facility. I don't think that's okay. You might think it's okay that

03:29the national security advisor-designate secretly conferred with a Russian ambassador

03:35about undermining U.S. sanctions, and you might think it's okay he lied about it to the FBI.

03:42You might say that's all okay. You might say that's just what you need to do to win.

03:52But I don't think it's okay. I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical. I think it's

03:58unpatriotic. And yes, I think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion.

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Transcript

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