Q&A of the Day – Did Adam Schiff lie about meeting with the whistleblower?
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
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Today’s entry...
Hey Brian, is there proof that the “whistleblower” met with Schiff before? Actual evidence? He said in the hearing yesterday he has never met him.
Bottom Line: Yes, or at least his staff, to the extent that evidence for closed-door private meetings takes place. I’ll explain by walking you through a timeline of events and will illustrate an important point about the premise of this plan B impeachment option against President Trump. Here’s what we know.
- September 9th inspector general Michael Atkinson notified the House intelligence committee, which Adam Schiff chairs, that he had received a whistleblower complaint (which was originally received on August 12th)
- September 17th on MSNBC Adam Schiff stated he nor his team had spoken with the whistleblower, but they are aware of the contents of the complaint due to the IG’s referral to his committee
- September 19th, IG Atkinson meets privately with Adam Schiff
- September 24th, Speaker Pelsoi announces the impeachment inquiry
- October 2nd, Patrick Boland, Adam Schiff’s Chief of Staff provided this statement to various media outlets including USA Today and the New York Times which broadly reported it: Like other whistleblowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled Committees, the whistleblower contacted the Committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the Intelligence Community. This is a regular occurrence, given the Committee’s unique oversight role and responsibilities. Consistent with the Committee’s longstanding procedures, Committee staff appropriately advised the whistleblower to contact an Inspector General and to seek legal counsel.
That statement was a direct contradiction to what Adam Schiff said on MSNBC on September 17th. It also illustrated the coordination of the whistleblower's complaint being crafted with feedback from Schiff’s team. Now, back to evidence. Is there evidence Adam Schiff personally met with or knows the whistleblower’s identity, no. Is there evidence that at a minimum his staff did, yes by their own admission. Has Schiff already been exposed for having lied about the whistleblower’s contacting his office? Yes. Is it likely that he told his staff to handle the whistleblower directly without his personal involvement or knowledge? That’s for you to decide but objective observers would be led to a logical conclusion.
Now, back to the timing of all this coming to the forefront. Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe was recommended for criminal indictment September 12th for alleged illegal acts pertaining to the 2016 election. The timing is a coincidence, too right?