Updated Jan 31, 2018
Why it matters: Schiff serves as ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, which voted Monday to release a controversial FISA memo written by chairman Devin Nunes. Last night after the State of the Union address, TV cameras caught President Trump telling Rep. Jeff Duncan that he "100 percent" supports releasing the memo.
Highlights:
- On the Nunes memo: "When I asked to have FBI officials come in to talk about the memo's lack of context, sources and methods, and underlying documents, GOP members voted on party lines against being informed ... This is not about the facts. This is about a misleading narrative that the chairman wants to put out to undermine the FBI and Robert Mueller."
- Schiff's last-minute appearance: Schiff was able to join today's Axios News Makers since Steve Bannon’s appearance in front of the House Intelligence Committee was postponed. The hearing will remain delayed while Bannon's counsel coordinates his invocation of executive privilege with White House lawyers.
- “There may be a limited and specific executive privilege for certain conversations with [the president] ... but refusal to talk about a whole period is unprecedented,” Schiff said.
- The likelihood of a constitutional crisis: "I'm not sure, but what the House is doing right now makes it more likely, not less."
- Facebook, Twitter and Google's cooperation: "I wouldn't say they've been fully cooperative ... Facebook executives committed to providing us with redacted ads after they were scrubbed of personal identifying information. That still hasn’t happened."