Adam Schiff hits back at Trump: He’s ‘terrified’ of House Russia probe

Mod: Apparently the cat has escaped its bag, and it is a fearful Trump that let kitty out. The one thing driving Donald these days is the fear of House investigation, which he revealed in his SOTU speech Tuesday. And that, of course, is what he is about to get. 

Schiff hits back at Trump: He’s ‘terrified’ of House Russia probe (The Hilllink): House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday fired back at President Trump after the president accused him of being a "political hack," saying that he could understand why Trump was scared of congressional oversight.


The comments from Schiff came just minutes after Trump denounced the California Democrat for opening a sweeping committee probe into Trump’s ties to Russia and his personal finances.

“He has no basis to do that. He’s just a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself,” the president told reporters at the White House. “It’s just presidential harassment and it’s unfortunate and it really does hurt our country."

Schiff announced earlier Wednesday that the House Intelligence panel's investigation would extend beyond potential links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Among other things, Schiff said the probe would evaluate if Trump's decisions have been motivated by financial gain.

“The president’s actions and posture towards Russia during the campaign, transition, and administration have only heightened fears of foreign financial or other leverage over President Trump and underscore the need to determine whether he or those in his administration have acted in service of foreign interests since taking office,” he said in a statement. Trump said during the State of the Union that an "economic miracle" was taking place in the U.S. and that the only thing that could stop it were "foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations.”

The remark was criticized by both Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

"You know what I think it shows, he’s scared,"Schumer said on CNN's New Day. "He’s got something to hide. Because if he had nothing to hide he’d just shrug his shoulders and let these investigations go forward."

Democrats just called Trump's 'investigations' bluff (CNN link): In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Donald Trump minced no words when it came to the ongoing -- and planned -- investigations into him and his Cabinet.

"If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation,"Trump said, to murmurs of disapproval from many Democrats in the House chamber.

The message was simple: If you like the current run of economic prosperity and (relative) peace in the world, then you had better end the special counsel investigation being run by Robert Mueller and stop before you start any congressional investigations. If you don't, bad -- if amorphous -- things will happen to the country.

That threat didn't hold for 12 hours. By Wednesday morning, House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (California) announced he was launching a wide-ranging inquiry into Trump's finances and whether financial considerations were driving decisions made by the administration.

The investigation will "allow us to investigate any credible allegation that financial interests or other interests are driving decision-making of the President or anyone in the administration," explained Schiff.

Also on Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (New York) forewarned acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker that he would be expected to answer questions -- and not simply cite executive privilege -- in a hearing scheduled for this Friday. Nadler has gone so far as to issue a subpoena to compel Whitaker to testify in the event the acting AG chooses not to answer questions Friday.

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