Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) appears to have “mischaracterized” a piece of evidence used in the Democrats’ impeachment investigation, Politico reports.
The problematic evidence stems from a letter the House Intelligence chairman sent to House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler (D-NY) last week.
Adam Schiff may have mischaracterized a piece of the Lev Parnas evidence from last week, according to unredacted documents obtained by @politico... The story >> https://t.co/canRArBovk
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) January 22, 2020
“In one section of the letter, Schiff claims that Parnas ‘continued to try to arrange a meeting with President Zelensky,’ citing a specific text message exchange where Parnas tells Giuliani: ‘trying to get us mr Z.’ The remainder of the exchange — which was attached to Schiff’s letter — was redacted,” Politico's Melanie Zanona writes. “But an unredacted version of the exchange shows that several days later, Parnas sent Giuliani a word document that appears to show notes from an interview with Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma, followed by a text message to Giuliani that states: ‘mr Z answers my brother.’ That suggests Parnas was referring to Zlochevsky not Zelensky.”
A Democratic official “didn’t dispute the suggestion,” according to Politico, but that source said the single letter "z" was most commonly used as a reference to Zelensky. A GOP aide interviewed for the story, meanwhile, called the assumption Schiff made “sloppy oversight work at best.”
Other Republicans were less charitable.
Schiff’s sham impeachment is littered with mischaracterizations, falsehoods, & political desperation.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 22, 2020
The more Schiff speaks to the American people, the more the support for impeachment is obliterated in the court of public opinion.
READ?? https://t.co/KsIPKpn6Nj
Another "bombshell" turns out to be a dud. Adam Schiff ought to prove he can manage basic facts before he tries to manage an #impeachment. Kudos to @seanhannity and @politico for bringing this mischaracterization of the Parnas evidence to light. pic.twitter.com/LcWm2vryUT
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) January 22, 2020
The opening paragraph of this story comes pretty close to a “Republicans pounce” kind of thing.
— Tim Murtaugh - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TimMurtaugh) January 22, 2020
But the real story is that Adam Schiff, once again, has apparently lied about supposed evidence.https://t.co/5BVGaTpH6M
It appears Rep. Adam Schiff has been caught lying again... https://t.co/VXV90r8KQ5
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) January 22, 2020