House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday to discuss impeachment. Throughout the course of the interview, Schiff argued that the House's articles of impeachment should reflect the most serious crimes.
"We have weighed in, all the chairs, Chairman Nadler and his staff, into what we would think would be appropriate in these articles. I can't go into those particular discussions but I can tell you, as a former prosecutor, it's always been my strategy in a charging decision – and an impeachment in the House is essentially a charging decision – to charge those that is the most overwhelming evidence and not try to charge everything, even though you could charge other things," Schiff explained. "So that's my guiding philosophy. There is overwhelming evidence [Trump] sought to coerce Ukraine to interfere in our elections and essentially sought to cheat in our next election by getting a foreign government to weigh in."
According to Schiff, Trump "abused his office" and "deeply sought to obstruct the investigation into that wrongdoing."
.@RepAdamSchiff on whether articles of impeachment will go beyond Ukraine: “I think we should focus on those issues that provide the greatest threat to the country.” pic.twitter.com/rMtAeSxwnZ
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 8, 2019
Even though Schiff has continually pushed for President Trump's impeachment, since he took office, he claims to not know how he's going to vote when the articles of impeachment come to the full House for a vote.
Shiff told Margaret Brennan that the Trump administration "released the aid because they got caught, because the whistleblower blew the whistle, because Congress announced an investigation, and only there after, almost immediately there after, were they forced to release the aid."
"In terms of my own recommendations, I'm going to see what articles come out of the Judiciary Committee deliberations," he explained. "I'll make my views known at that time."
NEWS: @RepAdamSchiff says he will wait until the Judiciary committee releases articles of impeachment before he makes a decision on how he will vote. pic.twitter.com/vwqvuYwYPa
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 8, 2019
Schiff started this whole "I'm impartial" scheme a few weeks ago, saying he would need to consult with his colleagues and constituents before he votes on impeaching the president. Talk about a sudden shift in tactics. He spent the last two-and-a-half years telling the American people that Trump deserves to be impeached. First it was Russia. But when Special Counsel Robert Mueller failed to deliver the "smoking gun," he latched onto Trump's call with the president of Ukraine.
Schiff is now running with this talking point because polling continually reveals Americans – especially Independents – are not in favor of impeaching the president. And it's becoming a liability for him to lead this charge.