Democrats showed their support for embattled House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Thursday by launching a hashtag, “#IStandWith Schiff,” as he stood by his allegations of Russian collusion.
For more than two years, Schiff claimed that he had seen evidence that President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had colluded with the Russian government. But Special Counsel Robert Mueller could not establish that was true, according to a summary of his report presented to Congress on Sunday by Attorney General William Barr. But Schiff has refused to back off his previous claims.
Republicans on the committee unanimously demanded Schiff’s resignation in a joint letter Thursday: “Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming. … As such, we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.”
But Schiff was defiant, refusing to resign and listing a series of facts that, in his view, established that collusion had, in fact, occurred.
At a press briefing, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi defended Schiff, saying that Barr had erred by offering his interpretation of Mueller’s report (even though he had quoted Mueller directly) and demanding the full document be released. Later, on Twitter, she tweeted a video of her remarks, with the hashtag “#IStandWithSchiff.”
.@realDonaldTrump & the @HouseGOP’s attacks on @RepAdamSchiff raise the question: what are they afraid of? #IStandWithSchiff pic.twitter.com/pbhs4lZHiY
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 28, 2019
Other Democrats joined in, sending the hashtag to the list of Twitter “trending” topics in the United States:
Retweet if you stand with Chairman Adam Schiff. #IStandWithSchiff
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) March 28, 2019
Thank you, Rep. Adam Schiff,
The majority of us are not okay with this administration. We're not okay with being on the wrong side of history.
It means the world to have representatives who understand that.#IStandWithSchiff
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 28, 2019
#IStandWithSchiff and against every Republican on intel committee appropriately being shamed & made to take a seat by @RepAdamSchiff after their idiotic attempt to upstage the Star. What morons. https://t.co/KhM9ljkIuc
— Nancy Lee Grahn (@NancyLeeGrahn) March 28, 2019
This speech is already historic. And when you look back on this moment, you gutless gang of eunuchs, @GOP, what will you say you did? Laughed it off or actually chose country over party? We won't wait for your answer and we won't stand for a compromised POTUS. #IStandWithSchiff https://t.co/A1xcMgQynf
— Lesley Abravanel (@lesleyabravanel) March 28, 2019
Chairman Schiff is a patriot. And he’s right, the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Period. That’s a fact. The question is, how far did it go? We need to see Mueller’s report. #IStandWithSchiff https://t.co/7NKNUkQkKD
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) March 28, 2019
Despite advice from House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) to let the collusion issue go, Democrats are clearly sticking with it.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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