Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) had a rough day on Wednesday.
Former special counsel John Durham, speaking during a congressional hearing, coolly and effectively put Schiff in his place.
On the same day that Schiff was the subject of a House censure motion, the congressman tried to claim that Donald Trump Jr. had broken the law by meeting at Trump Tower in 2016 during his father’s campaign for the president against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Schiff, believing he was having a Perry Mason moment, asked Durham if he was aware that congressional investigations revealed that Don Jr. knew that a Russian offered the Trump campaign, on the phone, high-level and sensitive information that would incriminate Hillary Clinton and was part of Russia’s support of Mr. Trump.
Durham said people who claim to have info like that get calls all the time.
Schiff feigned being taken aback, questioning whether foreign governments frequently contact sons of presidential candidates to provide damaging opposition information.
“I don’t think this is unique in your experience,” Durham said.
Durham was alluding to Russian comedians playing a prank phone call on Schiff, a congressman from California.
U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail said in March 2017 that two comedians named Vovan and Lexus had pretended to be Ukrainian politicians and promised to provide Schiff with damaging information on President Trump, including supposed nude images of Trump with a Russian reality show actress.
After the hoax conversation, Schiff’s assistants attempted to email the bogus Ukrainian lawmaker to receive the “classified” information that had been promised.
The hoax call was recorded and made public. And Durham made Schiff look as dumb at the hearing as he was on the hoax phone call.
The House of Representatives voted along party lines to rebuke Schiff shortly after his exchange with Durham on Wednesday.
