Schiff: Trump shows pattern of targeting people who corroborate Comey

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that President Trump is firing people who claim they can corroborate former FBI Director James Comey on possible obstruction of justice charges.

Schiff pointed to the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Friday as the latest example.

“The fact that McCabe and every other of the James Comey associates … who corroborate James Comey on the issue of potential obstruction of justice, every one of them has been targeted by the administration, by the Republicans in Congress and is this because they corroborate James Comey?” Schiff told ABC’s “This Week.”

“That’s a question we also have to answer,” Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said.

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Schiff charged that Trump has targeted Comey’s general counsel James Baker and his chief of staff James Rybicki because they back a possible case that Trump obstructed justice in the FBI investigation of Russian election interference and possible collusion with members of the Trump campaign. Both FBI staffers were removed from their positions by new FBI Director Christopher Wray, but the FBI denied reports they were pushed out due to their previous association with Comey.

Trump fired Comey last May. Days afterward, the Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller to take over the FBI’s investigation into Russian actions.

McCabe, who Sessions fired on Friday for allegedly disclosing unauthorized information to the press and failing to be candid about it with investigators, argued that his firing is an effort to undermine the Mueller investigation.

Trump has criticized McCabe for months and celebrated his ouster over the weekend. According to Trump, McCabe was biased and tainted by the Democratic campaign his wife ran in Virginia, where she accepted campaign donations from a Clinton ally.

Schiff said he is unsure if McCabe’s firing is justified.

“His firing may be justified, there is no way for us to know at this point,” Schiff said. “But even though it may have been justified it can also be tainted.”