Joining The View as a guest host on Tuesday, former State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus confronted Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) over his actions to further the lies contained in the Steele Dossier and he didn't do well trying to explain why his advancement of Russian disinformation is different from what he accuses others of doing.
"You've been really prolific over the past few years being the head of the Intel Committee," Ortagus noted, "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."
Due to the recent revelations that confirmed what most already thought about the origins and credibility of the dossier, Ortagus asked Schiff: "Do you have any reflections on your role in promoting this to the American people?"
As Glenn Greenwald pointed out, Ortagus' question was the toughest Schiff has received for his role in perpetuating literal fake news.
Notable that Adam Schiff -- who appears on every CNN, MSNBC and Sunday morning network news program as often as possible -- just had his first truly adversarial questioning about his pathological Russiagate lies not on any of those networks but from Morgan Ortagus on the View.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 9, 2021
"Whoever lied to the FBI or lied to Cristopher Steele should be prosecuted," said Schiff. "If people lied to the FBI they should go to jail," he said without accepting any responsibility for pushing and defending the dossier.
"At the beginning of the Russia investigation, I said that any allegations should be investigated," Schiff continued. "We couldn't have known for example people were lying to Cristopher Steele so it was proper to investigate them."
Schiff attempted to say that the investigation into the Steele Dossier was worthwhile because it revealed other contacts between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Russian individuals. Ortagus pointed out that Manafort was fired midway through Trump's first campaign, but Schiff insisted that "he may have been fired but the effort to get Russian help continued."
. @MorganOrtagus corners Adam Schiff on how he put the false Steele dossier, which was sourced from actual Russians for the Clinton campaign, into the congressional record. He can’t handle it, so attempts to undermine her credibility. He failed. pic.twitter.com/qo4JBlnmda
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) November 9, 2021
Ortagus interrupted to point out an inconvenient truth. "You may have helped spread Russian disinformation, yourself, for years, by promoting this," Ortagus said of his work to spread the contents of the Steele dossier. "That's what Republicans and what people who trusted you as the Intel Committee chair are so confused about, your culpability in all of this."
"I completely disagree with your premise," Schiff said attempting to push back. "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."
Schiff then attempted to deflect again by accusing Ortagus and Republicans of trying to create a "smoke screen 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 anyway diminished by the fact that people lied to Christopher Steele."
"No, I think just your credibility is," Ortagus quipped back re-centering the segment on Schiff's own culpability in advancing Russian disinformation.
Schiff tried to respond as quickly, but stumbled. "I think the credible-your question-the credibility of your question is in doubt," whatever that means.
As Guy also pointed out, Schiff is pretty much the last person to lecture anyone on lies surrounding Russian collusion.
This guy kept claiming collusion even after Mueller found no collusion, so I’m not sure he’s in a position to lecture others about lies related to this saga. https://t.co/C8bJHGwWTY
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 9, 2021
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