Meghan McCain pushed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on his long-held assertion there was “smoking gun” evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
“You have claimed for years now that you have a smoking gun of evidence of collusion,” McCain said to Schiff during an appearance on The View. “Your quote is, ‘ample evidence of collusion.’ You said that, but Robert Mueller and his investigation found that there was no collusion.”
“Can you share with us right here, right now on The View, the evidence that you have and explain why Mueller was wrong yesterday?” McCain pressed.
Schiff responded saying the evidence “is in plain sight, not hidden anywhere.”
“We went through that evidence,” Schiff said in defense. “The Russians offered dirt on Hillary Clinton in writing and sent it to [Donald Trump] Jr. And Don Jr.’s response was in writing and said, ‘As for your offer of foreign illegal help, I would love it.’ He accepted the offer.”
Schiff went on to note the Trump Tower meeting between senior members of the Trump campaign, including Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer in June 2016, as well as Trump Jr.’s subsequent misleading statements about the meeting.
“You have an offer of illegal help, you have acceptance of that offer, you have an overact and furtherance of that conspiracy,” Schiff exclaimed. “That is I think by any rational American’s expectation the personification of collusion.”
Schiff then said that former special counsel Robert Mueller needed to answer if he could prove the elements of the crime of conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.
“There is a difference between what we understand is collusion and whether you can prove all the elements of a crime,” Schiff said.
McCain shifted gears after his response, asking Schiff if he thought Mueller’s testimony Wednesday could be called a success for Democrats.
“If you are measuring whether this is a success in terms of whether it brings us closer to impeachment or not, that was not my object with wanting him to come in,” Schiff said. “My object was to find out what work did you do.”
[Read more: Bumbler, frail, feeble: Democrats lament Mueller performance before Congress]
