The fact-checker for the Washington Post gave House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff four “Pinocchios” for saying last month that he and his panel “have not spoken directly” with the whistleblower, whose complaint led to an impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
Appearing on MSNBC on Sept. 17, the California Democrat was asked directly if there had been previous contact with the whistleblower.
“We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower. We would like to,” Schiff responded. “But I am sure the whistleblower has concerns that he has not been advised, as the law requires, by the inspector general or the director of national intelligence just how he is supposed to communicate with Congress, and so the risk to the whistleblower is retaliation.”
The fact-checker called his statement “flat-out false.”
On Wednesday, it was reported that Schiff did, in fact, know details about the whistleblower’s complaint against the president before it was formally filed. The whistleblower reached out and made contact with one of the committee aides beforehand; that aide, in turn, told Schiff about the conversation but reportedly didn’t reveal the whistleblower’s identity.
In regard to Schiff’s comments on MSNBC, a committee representative told the fact-checker that “he intended to answer the question of whether the Committee had heard testimony from the whistleblower, which they had not.”
“As he said in his answer, the whistleblower was then awaiting instructions from the Acting DNI as to how the whistleblower could contact the Committee,” the representative said. “Nonetheless he acknowledges that his statement should have been more carefully phrased to make that distinction clear.”
The fact-checker, who awards politicians Pinocchio ratings ranging from one to four, gave Schiff the highest rating, which is reserved for the most dishonest statements. The fact-checker said the congressman “clearly made a statement that was false.”
“He now says he’s was answering the wrong question, but if that was the case, he should have quickly corrected the record,” the fact-checker said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Schiff’s office for comment but didn’t immediately receive a response.
