House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he had no doubts that President Trump played a role in Republicans storming a secure area where impeachment depositions are being held.
“The stunts the Republicans have been pulling — the storming of the SCIF and all the other high jinks that the president concocts with them. They show a fundamental lack of seriousness about this,” the California Democrat told CNN on Thursday, using the acronym for a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility that protects against electronic surveillance.
CNN host Chris Cuomo asked Schiff if the president “knew what they were doing or had a hand in what they did in storming the SCIF?”
“Without a doubt,” Schiff said, noting that some Republicans who protested Democrats’ handling of the closed-door depositions met with Trump the previous day.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told The Hill that Trump “did not play any role” in Republicans’ decision to enter the secure hearing room.
Some of the lawmakers brought their cellphones into the room, violating security protocols of the rooms where lawmakers view and discuss classified information.
