House

Schiff: Trump helped House Republicans plan to storm SCIF

by Rachel Frazin - 11/01/19 12:29 PM ET

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) suggested Thursday that President Trump played a role in House Republicans’ decision to enter a secure area, known as a SCIF, where impeachment witness depositions are held.

In a CNN interview, Schiff said “the storming of the SCIF and all the other high jinks that the president concocts with them” showed a “lack of seriousness.”

{mosads}Host Chris Cuomo then asked the lawmaker if Trump “knew what they were doing or had a hand in what they did in storming the SCIF.”

“Without a doubt,” Schiff said. “That happened the morning after a meeting with these … Tea Party members who came storming in the next day.”

“Much of the Republican party has become a cult of personality around the president,” he said later.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff: Republican complaints about the impeachment inquiry process being unfair are “almost completely false.” https://t.co/iSxPW9X0Td pic.twitter.com/jUQk3nFEAc

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) November 1, 2019

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham later denied Schiff’s allegation that Trump was involved in the SCIF entry.

“He did not play any role,” she said in an email to The Hill.

A group of House Republicans entered the secure area last week after complaining about the closed-door nature of the witness interviews.

House Democrats in late September launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump after revelations that he pressed Ukraine’s president to look into former Vice President Joe Biden.

Updated: 2:28 p.m.

Tags Adam Schiff Chris Cuomo Donald Trump Impeachment impeachment inquiry Joe Biden Stephanie Grisham