In 1990, as a young assistant U.S. attorney, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) slipped into the national security world when he nailed the first FBI agent ever to be accused of espionage – for Moscow.
Now he is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee – a subject he calls “a fairly perfect fit for me” – and, as such, one of his party’s most visible figures on current investigations of Russian meddling in last year’s election.
“I learned a lot about Russian tradecraft, who they targeted, how they recruited, what information they were interested in,” he said, referring to the 1990 case.
It often now feels, he says, as if he’s come “full circle.” Intelligence, he says “has turned out to be a fairly perfect fit for me because it has such a strong national security component, but it also has a whole set of very complex issues which have a very strong legal overlay.”
On the House Russia probe, Schiff said he appreciates the leadership Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) has brought to the committee after replacing Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) as head of the investigation, saying the probe “is really fully back on track.”
Nunes, whom Schiff often clashed with, stepped aside after harsh criticism for publicly discussing surveillance reports he was secretly shown by a White House source that identified Trump transition team members. Schiff has since said that Nunes’ May 31 issuance of three subpoenas connected to the issue of intelligence officials’ potential improper unmasking of Trump Administration officials violates Nunes’ recusal from the probe.
Subpoena authority should have been delegated to Conaway in consultation with Schiff, Schiff said during an MSNBC interview, adding, “That hasn't happened yet. I think that's a violation of the recusal by the Chairman."
The committee, Schiff said, is “bringing in the witnesses we should bring in, we’re requesting the documents that we should have, we’re spending a lot of time out at the agencies going over documents and trying to navigate a pretty challenging course.”
Schiff said he thinks he and Conaway both understand “just how important it is, and how much value we can add if we can arrive at a single conclusion at the end of the day.”
At the same time, though, Schiff said it is difficult to predict the course of the investigation “since it keeps being buffeted by actions in the White House.”
“I often have had the sensation, I think as everyone has, of getting up in the morning and expecting my day to look like one thing and having it look like something completely different.”
On whether the Russia probe is distracting or diverting the committee from other intelligence matters, Schiff says the committee has a small staff in charge of overseeing some of the most significant agencies in the country.
With most hearings held in closed session, “you have to really work hard to make sure you’re asking the right questions, getting the right information. None of that is easy and none of that responsibility has gone away.”
“We just have this whole new responsibility added onto it,” he said, “So I do worry that the other oversight work of the committee is taking a toll, because there are only so many hours in the day and so many staff.”
Schiff said that in addition to the House and Senate committee probes, there should be a separate independent commission set up and said he backs a joint probe by the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to combine resources.
“Right now, we’re duplicating everything the Senate is doing and they’re duplicating what we’re doing, which makes us half as efficient as we could be.”
Schiff sees two benefits of an independent commission – it would be “completely apolitical and not subject to any buffeting by political forces.” It would have a “dedicated mission of finding out what the Russians did, finding out whether there was U.S. person involvement, prescribing what we can do to protect ourselves in the next election – and they don’t have the day job that we have, so they can be staffed much more appropriately with the task.”
Schiff spoke highly of the appointment by the Justice Department of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia probe, calling it “a very positive step forward,” adding, “I have known him for many years and have great respect for his intellect and integrity.”
At the same time, though, Schiff said the appointment “will not change the mission of the House Intelligence investigation.”
“Mueller’s responsibility is to determine if he will bring charges, and if so, against whom, while our committee has the duty to inform the public of the scope of Russian intervention in our election, whether U.S. persons were involved and how to protect ourselves in the future. We will need to meet with Mr. Mueller to deconflict our investigations as much as possible, but the work must continue in parallel for both probes,” he said.
Schiff also discussed Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who reportedly tried to set up a secret Trump transition team communication channel to Moscow in December.
“We will need to investigate the allegation that Jared Kushner discussed setting up a secret communications channel with Russian Ambassador Kislyak, whether it was undertaken with the knowledge of the President and others, and to what end,” he said.
“I also believe that the agency that provided Mr. Kushner his security clearance will need to determine if Mr. Kushner properly disclosed this alleged meeting and discussion, and if not, whether his security clearance must be revoked,” Schiff added.
Schiff told The Cipher Brief during the interview he thought the most valuable service the House committee could provide in its investigation would be if “somehow we can conduct this investigation thoroughly and reach a unified conclusion as to what we found.”
If at the end, he said, there are competing reports, such as a majority and a minority report, “we will have added a lot less value than we should, because you’ll have half the country reading one and the other half reading the other.”
“I hope and I believe we should work towards a unified conclusion, and ideally not just among Democrats and Republicans, but among the House and Senate investigations as well,” he said.
Steve Hirsch is a senior national security editor at The Cipher Brief.
