Welcome to the club.
Congressman Adam Schiff can now proudly join the club of the diminutive ones, after president Trump today insulted the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee as “Little Adam Schiff.”
The conscientious Californian though isn’t likely to shrink like a violet as “Little Marco” Rubio and “Liddle Bob” Corker” did before our tweeter-in-chief.
Trump lashed out at Schiff because the Congressman wants to release the Democratic rebuttal to the Republican memo made public Friday about alleged FBI surveillance abuse.
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Nunes (L) and SchiffThe Congressman believes the GOP memo is misleading and intended to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the US presidential election.
Schiff is in a no-win situation. As a former prosecutor, he wants to wage a fact-based case about the memos. That argument may earn a merit badge for Schiff, but it misses the point.
Written by aides of newly crowned Trump hero, Devin Nunes, whom the president dubbed via twitter today “a great American hero for what he has exposed and what he has to endure,” the memo was panned over the weekend as a “nothingburger” by Democrats, Republicans, media and just about anyone who attempted to read the document.
That negative reaction doesn’t matter. Trump’s diehard base would have praised anything released by the Republicans as total vindication of their guy.
The GOP memo was a PR exercise that plays into the perception held by Trump’s loyal backers that the intelligence community is rigged against the president. It also fanned the fury of Fox News commentators.
Do Democrats really want to get into the mud with Republicans, slugging it out over dueling memos?
That would be a sideshow and a huge waste of both talent and time.
The Democrats would be better served by launching a campaign to urge Americans to support Mueller’s probe and the integrity of the FBI and Justice Dept.
They might even shame Attorney General Jeff Sessions into saying a thing or two about the importance of an independent Justice Dept.
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