House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday fired back at President Trump after the president accused him of being a “political hack,” saying that he could understand why Trump was scared of congressional oversight.
The comments from Schiff came just minutes after Trump denounced the California Democrat for opening a sweeping committee probe into Trump’s ties to Russia and his personal finances.
{mosads}“He has no basis to do that. He’s just a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself,” the president told reporters at the White House. “It’s just presidential harassment and it’s unfortunate and it really does hurt our country.”
Schiff announced earlier Wednesday that the House Intelligence panel’s investigation would extend beyond potential links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Among other things, Schiff said the probe would evaluate if Trump’s decisions have been motivated by financial gain.
“The president’s actions and posture towards Russia during the campaign, transition, and administration have only heightened fears of foreign financial or other leverage over President Trump and underscore the need to determine whether he or those in his administration have acted in service of foreign interests since taking office,” he said in a statement.
Trump said during the State of the Union that an “economic miracle” was taking place in the U.S. and that the only thing that could stop it were “foolish wars, politics or ridiculous partisan investigations.”
The remark was criticized by both Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“You know what I think it shows, he’s scared,” Schumer said on CNN’s “New Day. “He’s got something to hide. Because if he had nothing to hide he’d just shrug his shoulders and let these investigations go forward.”