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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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It was only a few days before President Trump made Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) deputy director of the FBI, but Dan Bongino called him out on his popular podcast.
“What’s the matter with Adam Schiff?” “I really want you to look at the Russia collusion hoax again today,” Bongino said at the start of a segment.
When Bongino said that the story was told many years ago, he said, “I’m going to be honest with you. “I do not wish to move on.”
“We had the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice, officials in Congress, foreign governments and intel people fabricate a story, invent a story that could have caused and done serious long-term harm to international relations with a nuclear-powered foe,” he said. “It’s kind of a big freakin’ deal.”
He then said, “Listen to me—this is going to be very important in the next few days.” This may have been a hint that he was about to be hired by the FBI.
“This is not going away. It can’t happen again, so I want to know what went wrong. For Democrats only. I am not a Republican. Not to a Libertarian. “Not to any American citizen,” Bongino said.
“You don’t get to change the course of electoral politics by making up a story, taking over the justice system, and then giving a fake story the appearance of being true,” he said. “You don’t get to do that.”
“Why am I talking about that now?” Who was in charge of that circus, anyway? “Yes, Adam Schiff, and no, I’m not giving up,” he said.
It’s important to note that Schiff was given an early pardon by former President Joe Biden for his work on the Democratic-led Jan. 6 Commission, even though he said it was “unnecessary” and “unwise.”
In a statement, Schiff said, “I continue to believe that giving pardons to a committee that did such important work to uphold the law was unnecessary and, because it sets a bad example, foolish.” “But I certainly understand why President Biden believed he needed to take this step in light of the persistent and baseless threats issued by Donald Trump and individuals who are now some of his law enforcement nominees.”
Schiff did not reject the pardon outright, which is important to note.
A report from The Hill said that these “full and unconditional” pardons cover all crimes related to the “activities or subject matter” of the committee and are not limited to a certain time period. But it isn’t clear — yet — if the pre-emptive pardon covers any potential illegality that Schiff may have allegedly engaged in regarding his repeatedly false claims that Trump was a Russian asset or that he was acting on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) chaired the committee, and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) served as second-in-command as vice chair. Other members included then-Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), current Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
In a joint statement Monday, Thompson and Cheney said they were pardoned “not for breaking the law but for upholding it.”
“These are indeed ‘extraordinary circumstances’ when public servants are pardoned to prevent false prosecution by the government for having worked faithfully as Members of Congress to expose the facts of a months-long criminal effort to override the will of the voters after the 2020 elections, including by inciting a violent insurrection to thwart the peaceful transfer of power,” they said in the statement, posted to the social media platform X.