CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Adam Schiff

Interview

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BASH: Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff who is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee joins me now.

Thank you so much for coming on. When you hear the president saying those things and you see the bulletin, and I'm sure you see a lot more than that since you're the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, about Russia is trying to do when it comes to misinformation or disinformation about the mail-in voting system about to start in this country as the election is here, what are we to think?

[19:20:08]

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, this is really not at all surprising. You know, I think weeks or months ago I was asking the intelligence agencies to look out for exactly this, the Russians amplifying the president's false claims about vote by mail. It was simply too attractive a target for the Russians because they could both -- achieve both of their aims, they could cause Americans to distrust their own democracy, but they could also help Donald Trump and the Trump campaign.

And sure enough now this is what we're seeing and tragically the president is doing nothing to deter it, nothing to disrupt it because he frankly wants the Russian help. He's made it abundantly clear in 2016 that he wanted their help, in 2019 that he was ready to coerce Ukraine for their help, he apparently begged President Xi for China's help. This president just doesn't care what it does for our democracy.

BASH: Are you suggesting that the president is being as aggressive as he is on this publicly in order to send a signal to Russia, to do what they're doing?

SCHIFF: Well, I don't think he needs to send a signal. I think the Russians well understand both that this is the president's message and they can help the president's campaign by amplifying it. But they can also potentially help cause chaos in the aftermath of our election and I would look for the Russians again after the election takes place as those ballots are being counted if the president continues his false claims about these -- the sanctity of these ballots, I would fully expect the Russians to be piling on.

And, you know, what we're trying to do in our committee is expose what the Russians are doing. They shouldn't -- it shouldn't be that the American people are learning about this through leaks of the press. The intelligence community, the agencies should be telling the American people.

We learned, Dana, in addition to this DHS bulletin, we learned through good reporting just a couple of weeks ago that there was a second bulletin saying the Russians were denigrating Joe Biden's health, echoing the same claims, the false smears that Donald Trump is making on Joe Biden. That was withheld from the law enforcement agencies. It was also withheld from Congress. I don't remember ever seeing this.

And we got to continue to fight to make sure that we're informed and the American people are informed because exposure is one of the tools we can use to protect the public.

BASH: And I want to ask you about that in a second. But first, I want to ask about something that the Attorney General William Barr said to Wolf Blitzer this past week about threats to this election. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Intelligence Committee says Russia, China and Iran are seeking to interfere in the U.S. presidential election for various reasons, but mostly they want to sow dissent in our country, exacerbate racial tensions, et cetera, like that. Of those three countries that the intelligence community has pointed to, Russia, China and Iran, which is the most assertive, the most aggressive in this area?

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I believe it's China.

BLITZER: Which one?

BARR: China.

BLITZER: China more than Russia right now?

BARR: Yes.

BLITZER: Why do you say that?

BARR: Because I've seen the intelligence. That's what I've concluded.

BLITZER: What are they trying to do?

BARR: Well, I'm not going to discuss that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, Mr. Chairman, without divulging classified information, have you seen evidence that Trump officials insist they have seen that China is actively interfering in this election far more than Russia?

SCHIFF: No, that's just a plain false statement by the attorney general. A flat-out false statement. You know, interestingly, some administration officials have been trying to mislead the public by saying that China is the bigger threat to the country in speaking in global terms, because of the rise in power of China. And they are using that answer in response to questions about the election, but they're at least careful in their misleading the public by not saying that they're a greater threat to the election.

They're just saying generically they're a bigger threat. But what Bill Barr just said in statement was just flat-out mislead the American people with a blatantly false statement. Joe Biden has been briefed as well as our committees, and he acknowledged as much the other day. And it's just such a disservice to the country that we can't trust our own attorney general but apparently Bill Barr is ready to do anything or say anything to help Donald Trump.

BASH: You're basically saying he's lying.

SCHIFF: Well, that's basically what he's doing. And I hesitate to say that. But it is the reality. Bill Barr isn't going to itemize the intelligence because it's just a flat-out false statement.

BASH: And you're confident that you have seen the intelligence that he has seen and you've come to clearly a different conclusion. That conclusion being that it is Russia that is far more active in trying to sow disinformation in -- misinformation in this election more than China.

SCHIFF: Yes. And in fact, if you look at what the intelligence director Evanina, who runs the National Counterintelligence Center, what he said in his public written statement, he said that Russia was actively interfering, actively engaging across a range of measures to influence the outcome.

[19:20:19]

China had a preference. And if you look at that, you can tell that Bill Barr is just flat-out lying to the American people and it's tragic, but it's as simple as that.

BASH: I asked the Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris about this issue. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I want to ask about Russia.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Yes.

BASH: The Department of Homeland Security bulletin said that Russia is trying to amplify claims that mail-in voting will lead to widespread voting fraud and undermine the public's trust in the upcoming election. Are you worried that Russian interference could cost you the election?

HARRIS: I am clear that Russia interfered in the election of president of the United States in 2016. I serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee. We have published detailed reports about exactly what we believe happened and I do believe that there will be foreign interference in the 2020 election and that Russia will be at the front of the line.

BASH: Could it cost you the White House?

HARRIS: Theoretically, of course. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Do you share that concern, Mr. Chairman?

SCHIFF: Well, you know, I certainly share the concern. If you look at the 2016 election, it was decided by I think about 70,000 votes in three different states and given the size of the Russian operation, we'll never be able to tell whether that interference was decisive in an election that close. If this election is very close, then will these Russian efforts on social media through their overt media, through other modalities the Russians are using could they be determinative.

It's certainly possible which is all the reason -- all the more reason why we need to -- you know, deter, disrupt and expose what the Russians are doing and why what the president is doing and Bill Barr is doing is so destructive for our democracy when they essentially cover for the Russians because, you know, by misleading the United States and our citizens about China, China being a bigger threat to the elections, they're basically giving Russia free rein because the Russians know, you know, that coward in the White House, Donald Trump, will never call out Putin. Bill Barr certainly won't, and therefore they can do whatever they want and Donald Trump is still going to blame China.

BASH: Real quick, I know that you wrote a letter inviting the director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, to come and testify before your committee. Have you heard back and if not, are you going to issue a subpoena?

SCHIFF: We have not gotten an answer yet and we'll be discussing with the speaker, following up with whatever coercion we need to make sure we get answers. But, Dana, the fact that, for example, that DHS bulletin about the Russians trying to denigrate and smear Joe Biden's health, that was withheld from law enforcement. We can't rely on documents if they're going to be withholding documents.

BASH: Right.

SCHIFF: You need to be able to ask questions. So, you know, we'll do whatever we need to do to get the information and protect the country.

BASH: That sounds like a subpoena.

SCHIFF: Well, you know, that's a decision that our leadership ultimately makes because it impacts the whole House.

BASH: OK. Understand. OK. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, thank you so much for coming on, especially this holiday weekend. Appreciate it.

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