‘Russiagate’ congressman protests intelligence snub on TikTok

Adam Schiff used the platform Congress banned as a security risk to address his removal from House intelligence committee

After the new Republican leadership removed Congressman Adam Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee, the California Democrat vented his outrage on TikTok, a platform US Congress has banned from official government devices. Schiff also signaled his intent to run for a Senate seat that fellow “Russiagate” promoter Diane Feinstein hasn’t vacated yet.

“Kevin McCarthy just kicked me off the House Intelligence Committee,” Schiff said in a TikTok video posted on Wednesday evening, referring to the new House majority leader and fellow Californian. “And here’s why: I fought him and Donald Trump when they tried to tear down our democracy,” Schiff added, claiming to have been punished for “doing my job for holding Trump accountable and standing up to extreme MAGA Republicans.” 

Schiff’s choice of TikTok to complain about being denied further access to classified information was curious, as Congress had banned the Chinese-owned platform from all government devices back in December, when it was still run by Democrats.

As chair of the intelligence committee, Schiff led the first presidential impeachment proceedings against Trump in 2019, accusing the US president at the time of “betraying national security” in a phone call with the Ukrainian government. Prior to that, as the ranking member, Schiff had claimed Russian interference in US elections and Trump’s ties to the Kremlin. 

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Recent Twitter revelations showed that Schiff’s claims about Russian social media influence were untrue. The controversial dossier authored by British spy Christopher Steele – which Schiff also promoted – has also been debunked. 

Explaining the decision to boot Schiff and fellow California Democrat Eric Swalwell off the committee, McCarthy said on Tuesday that Schiff had lied about the dossier, while Swalwell had an inappropriate relationship with a Chinese spy.

Swalwell called his expulsion “political vengeance” and accused McCarthy of “taking one of the most precious pieces of glassware in the congressional cabinet and smashing it,” causing “irreparable” damage to congressional bipartisanship.

As for Schiff, on Thursday he announced the intent to run for the California seat in the US Senate, currently held by Feinstein. The 89-year-old Democrat sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee and has not made any moves to retire.