Former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus grilled Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) during Tuesday’s episode of “The View” on ABC over Schiff’s past promotion of the now widely discredited Steele Dossier.
“You’ve been really prolific over the past few years being the head of the Intel Committee, and you defended, promoted, you even read into the Congressional Record the Steele Dossier,” Ortagus said. “And we know last week, the main source of the dossier was indicted by the FBI for lying about most of the key claims in that dossier.”
“Do you have any reflections on your role in promoting this to the American people?” she asked.
Schiff immediately deflected by attacking former President Donald Trump, despite not being asked about Trump, and by continuing to promote conspiracy theories related to Russia.
“But you’ve made false, spread disinformation yourself for years by promoting this,” Ortagus said. “I think that’s what Republicans and what people who entrusted you as the Intel Committee chair are so confused about your culpability in all this.”
Schiff refused to accept the premise of Ortagus’ question and claimed that it was “impossible” to “have foreseen in advance that some people were lying to Christopher Steele” about political gossip.
“None of that is undercut, none of that serious misconduct is in any way diminished by the fact that people lied to Christopher Steele,” Schiff continued.
“No, I think just your credibility is,” Ortagus said.
WATCH:
Adam Schiff defended his promotion of the STEELE DOSSIER by citing concerns about KONSTANTIN KILIMNIK, which are … not referenced (or even alluded to) anywhere in the dossier. pic.twitter.com/dyfh6cJbmp
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) November 9, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
MORGAN ORTAGUS: So I want to ask you about something that’s in the news a lot right now. You’ve been really prolific over the past few years being the head of the Intel Committee and you defended, promoted, you even read into the Congressional Record the Steele Dossier. And we know last week, the main source of the dossier was indicted by the FBI for lying about most of the key claims in that dossier. Do you have any reflections on your role in promoting this to the American people?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, first of all, whoever lied to the FBI or lied to Christopher Steele should be prosecuted. And they are. And unlike in the Trump administration, if they’re convicted, they should go to jail, not be pardoned. So Donald Trump pardoned Roger Stone for lying, he pardon Michael Flynn for lying. If people like the FBI, they should go to jail. But at the beginning Russian investigation, I said that any allegations should be investigated. We couldn’t have known, for example, people were lying to Christopher Steele, so it was proper to investigate them. And let’s not forget what we learned in that investigation. We learned that the Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was giving internal polling data, campaign polling data, to Russian intelligence, while Russian intelligence was helping the Trump campaign.
ORTAGUS: And to be clear he was fired halfway through the campaign.
SCHIFF: Well, he may have been fired.
ORTAGUS: Yeah–
SCHIFF: –but the effort to get Russian help continued and even beyond the effort to get Russian help, the president also sought to get–
ORTAGUS: –but you’ve false, spread disinformation yourself for years by promoting this. I think that’s what Republicans and what people who entrusted you as the Intel Committee chair are so confused about your culpability in all this.
SCHIFF: Well, I completely disagree with your premise. It’s one thing to say allegations should be investigated, and they were. It’s another to say that we should have foreseen in advance that some people were lying to Christopher Steele, which is impossible, of course to do. But let’s not use that as a smokescreen to somehow shield Donald Trump’s culpability for inviting Russia to help him in the election, which they did, for trying to coerce Ukraine into helping him in the next election, which he did, into inciting an erection, insurrection, which he did. None of that is undercut, none of that serious misconduct is in any way diminished by the fact that people lied to Christopher Steele.
ORTAGUS: No, I think just your credibility is.