Republicans slammed Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, after his opening statement reflected an altered characterization of a phone call transcript between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In the opening moments of a Thursday morning hearing to discuss the declassified whistleblower complaint filed against the president, Schiff recounted the phone call transcript, saying that Trump told Zelensky as a point of emphasis, “If you don’t understand me, I’m going to say it seven more times,” in addition to other quotes not contained in the transcript.
As intense questioning of acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire proceeded in the hearing, Schiff heard several committee members chastising him for his characterization of the rough transcript, which was released to the public yesterday. Schiff took a moment between members’ time to defend himself by describing his version of the call as “parody.”
“My summary of the president’s call was meant to be at least part in parody,” Schiff said in response to several allegations that he misquoted the transcript. “The fact that that’s not clear is a separate problem in and of itself. Of course, the president never said, ‘If you don’t understand me, I’m going to say it seven more times.’ My point is that’s the message that the Ukraine president was receiving, in not so many words.”
