COLD WAR OF WORDS

Schiff: Nunes Trying to ‘Choke Off’ Public Access to Information

Held a dueling presser to lament chairman canceling Trump-Russia hearing.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Friday accused House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) of running a “dead-of-night excursion” for documents on alleged National Security Agency surveillance of Trump associates, keeping the rest of his committee members “in the dark.” Schiff, the ranking member of the intelligence committee, held a press conference an hour after Nunes, and additionally lamented that the chairman has planned to either cancel the second portion of an open committee hearing on alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election or move it to a closed session, effectively “choking off the public” from information the ranking member believes is in their “interest” to know. “We strongly object to the cancellation of this hearing,” Schiff said. “We would still urge the majority to reconsider. The witnesses have made it clear to us they are still available and we would urge that that hearing be allowed to go forward.”