WASHINGTON – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff came the closest he ever has to endorsing President Trump’s impeachment during an interview Sunday.
The California Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper he believed that impeachment should be a “remedy of last resort, not first resort.”
Schiff then pointed to reports that claimed Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic political rival Joe Biden, while withholding military aid from the country.
“That may be the only remedy that is coequal to the evil that that conduct represents,” Schiff said of impeachment.
The next steps for Schiff include hearing from the acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, who has agreed to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
“We are going to make sure we get that complaint,” he added.
The White House has so far stonewalled Congress from getting a whistleblower complaint filed last month with the inspector general of the intelligence committee, which reportedly detailed a disturbing conversation the president had with a world leader – and also contained a “promise.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that during a July phone call with Zelensky, Trump asked the leader eight times to work with his personal lawyer, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to investigate Biden’s son.
“It may be that we do have to move forward with this extraordinary remedy if indeed the president is, at the same time withholding vital military assistance, he is trying to leverage that to obtain impermissible help with his presidential campaign,” Schiff said.
He also pointed out the political reality: even if the Democratic-controlled House voted to impeach Trump, the Republican-led Senate would likely vote to keep him in office.
“They have shown their willingness to carry the president’s baggage no matter how soiled its contents,” Schiff said.
The House Intelligence Committee leader also said that some of his Democratic colleagues’ calls for impeachment were premature.
“I don’t think it’s useful in making the case to the public that we did it reluctantly,” Schiff argued.
“But the president is pushing us down this road and if in particular after having sought foreign assistance and welcoming foreign assistance in the last presidential campaign as a candidate. He is now doing the same thing again, but now using the power of the presidency then he may force us to go down this road,” Schiff continued.
Schiff added that he had spoken to a number of his Democratic colleagues this week.
“This seems different,” he noted.
“And we may very well have crossed the Rubicon here,” Schiff said.