Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was excoriated by some of the colleagues he hopes to join in the Senate after announcing he would be entering the California Senate race scheduled for next year.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, multiple Republican senators made it clear that Schiff, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee who announced a run for Sen. Diane Feinstein’s Senate seat Thursday, wouldn’t be welcome in the chamber following his years of ‘pushing lies’ and allegedly misleading the American public concerning the investigation into whether former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia.
‘Adam Schiff is one of the most extreme Democrats in the House. He’s responsible for covering up Hunter Biden’s scandals and has spent his time on the Intel Committee pushing lies,’ said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, said in a statement.
‘As Chair of House Intel, he released the phone records of the top Republican on the committee and leaked classified data while pushing the Russia hoax. We cannot let Adam Schiff gain more power over the American people,’ she added.
Schiff has been accused of lying about details of the alleged ties between Trump and Russia, and he was mocked after the dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele detailing the alleged ties, which Schiff heavily promoted at the time, was found to contain false information.
Schiff was also accused of exaggerating the details of the call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which was at the center of the former president’s first impeachment trial.
Additionally, Schiff has been criticized for dismissing a 2020 report by Senate Republicans concerning Hunter Biden’s potential conflicts of interest in Ukraine as based on ‘Russian disinformation’ to undermine then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s chances at winning the presidential election.
Federal prosecutors are in their fourth year investigating the younger Biden for possible tax and foreign lobbying violations, including over his work in Ukraine, as well as for making false statements.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., echoed Blackburn’s sentiment and didn’t parse words when telling Fox her reaction to Schiff’s announcement.
‘Any former chairman of the Intelligence Committee who uses TikTok has no business serving in the United States Senate,’ she said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reacted to Schiff’s announcement by posting photos on Twitter of a question he submitted but never asked during Trump’s first impeachment trial, during which Schiff served as one of the House impeachment managers.
‘In Trump’s impeachment trials, senators submitted written Qs. I submitted a ton of them & chose to ask the most important ones. Here’s one of Qs that I didn’t ask. Given that Schiff’s partisan dishonesty has landed him so much in the news lately, I kinda wish I had asked it!’ Cruz tweeted.
His question asked whether ‘any part’ of Schiff’s ‘motive’ in the trial was ‘partisan or political.’
Schiff is now the second Democrat to enter the race, joining Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., although Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who currently holds the seat, has yet to announce her intention to retire once her term ends.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rejected Schiff’s assignment to the House Intelligence Committee earlier this week, citing the accusations surrounding Schiff’s actions while on the committee.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
