Rep. Adam Schiff : The one person not outraged by Russian bounties is Trump

Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about new details in a New York Times report about Russian intelligence paying Taliban fighters to kill Americans in Afghanistan, and Donald Trump's unwillingness to issue a U.S. response. Yet now they freak out about it because the NY Times wrote about it:

Hoc De Thi – Top committee staff for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, were briefed in February on intelligence about Russia offering the Taliban bounties in Afghanistan, but he took no action in response to the briefing, multiple intelligence sources familiar with the briefing told The Federalist. The intelligence was briefed to Schiff’s staff during a congressional delegation, or CODEL, trip to Afghanistan in February.

Schiff, who has acknowledged President Donald Trump was never briefed on the so-called intelligence, has thus far refused to disclose that his staff was personally briefed. The revelation raises serious questions that Schiff is once again politicizing, and perhaps even deliberately misrepresenting, key data for partisan gain.

Asked by a reporter Tuesday if he had any knowledge of the Russia story prior to the New York Times report, Schiff said “I can’t comment on specifics.”

Schiff’s recent complaints that Trump took no action against Russia in response to rumors of Russian bounties are curious given that Schiff himself took no action after his top staff were briefed by intelligence officials. As chairman of the intelligence committee, Schiff had the authority to immediately brief the full committee and convene hearings on the matter. Schiff, however, did nothing. He did not brief his committee on the matter, nor did he brief the gang of 8, which consists of top congressional leadership in both chambers.

Schiff is demanding that the Trump administration brief all of Congress about the unverified allegations, yet he himself did not ask for a briefing of the Intelligence Committee following the February briefing of his own staff.

This is nothing more than Democrats believing they have an avenue to attack Trump and taking it. This isn’t really about Russian bounties or concern for our soldiers, or anything else. This is all anti-Trump politics based on a phony report.

Tom Cotton was on with Fox News this morning and said that Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have all had access to this intelligence since February and said they were never screaming in front of a camera until the NY Times wrote about it.

Cotton also blasted the NY Times, saying this is just more proof that they can’t be trusted to write accurately on anything about Trump and Russia. He noted there was never any definitive intelligence, which the NY Times claimed, and there was strong disagreement within the intel community on what intelligence they did have. They also claimed Trump was briefed and that was wrong also. Cotton says this is just another fake story Democrats are trying to use for political gain: