By Debra J. Saunders
Syndicated columnist
President Donald Trump called on House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to resign from Congress. That, of course, is not going to happen.
Even after special counsel Robert Mueller found no conspiracy or coordination between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian actors, Schiff told The Washington Post, “Undoubtedly, there is collusion.”
That establishes Schiff as a facts-don’t-matter chairman who makes fellow Democrats seem immune to reality. But that’s their right, and Schiff did win his Southern California district with 78 percent of the vote.
So instead of resigning, Schiff shrewdly started fundraising and campaigning on the heels of Trump’s demand. “Adam won’t be intimidated,” a campaign tweet said, “Show Adam you have his back: add your name now.”
On Thursday, all nine Republicans on the committee called on Schiff to resign his chairmanship because he continued to argue there is evidence of collusion between Team Trump and the Russians. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called GOP members “scaredy cats,” Schiff doubled down on his collusion claim, with sound bites about his high standards that soar above the low-ball behavior of the Trump campaign and Republicans who defend the Trump team.
“You may think it’s OK how Trump and his associates interacted with Russians during the campaign,” Schiff said to his colleagues. “I don’t. I think it’s immoral. I think it’s unethical. I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt.”
When interacting becomes synonymous with colluding, you’re in guilt-by-association territory. And that’s worse than having a pencil neck.
Trump ignores the truth when he says Mueller absolved him of obstruction of justice, when Mueller expressly did not.
Schiff ignores the truth when he finds guilt where the dogged Mueller, after 22 months, issuing more than 2,800 subpoenas and interviewing some 500 witnesses, found none.
Attorney General William Barr reported to Congress that Mueller “did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated with the IRA (Russian Internet Research Agency) in its efforts.”
Did Trump associates talk to Russians? Yes. Did they collude with Russians to win in 2016? No.
They can keep holding hearings trying to find collusion, but it’s not going to happen. Trump won, and if they want to get to the truth, maybe they should ask American voters what happened.
Email Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow her on Twotter @DebraJSaunders.
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