Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, joined calls for Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. to resign as chairman.
“This is a personal vendetta from Adam Schiff at this point,” the Ohio lawmaker told CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday. “I do believe he needs to step aside.”
Turner listed three reasons that Schiff’s leadership has been “compromised.”
“One, he has stood in front of the American people and said things that were not true. Two, he’s attacked his fellow Republicans on the committee and been divisive and saying things about the Republicans on the committee that aren’t true. And the third thing is he’s transformed the committee from its focus, which is protecting our national security and the intelligence community, to being a vendetta against [President Trump’s] family and even the Trump campaign,” he said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., have also urged Schiff to step down.
Schiff told CNN’s “State of the Union” last month that there was “evidence in plain sight on the issue of collusion, pretty compelling evidence.”
He continued, “Now, there’s a difference between seeing evidence of collusion and being able to prove a criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Attorney General William Barr released a four-page summary Sunday of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusions in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether there was collusion with the Trump campaign.
Barr said Mueller determined Trump’s campaign did not conspire with the Russians, but did not make a determination on whether Trump obstructed justice. Mueller said that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”
However, Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have found that there is not “sufficient” evidence to determine whether Trump obstructed justice.
