California Senator-elect Adam Schiff continues to defend his long-debunked claims of Russian collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Kremlin. In a recent appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff doubled down on his allegations, even after years of investigations and the Mueller report that found no conclusive evidence of any such conspiracy.
Host Jake Tapper asked Schiff about his role in fueling the controversy over the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia. Tapper reminded Schiff of the censure he received from the House of Representatives in 2023 for his repeated assertions of Russian collusion. Schiff had served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, where he claimed to possess evidence of collusion, despite multiple investigations failing to substantiate his accusations.
Tapper raised the issue of whether Schiff, in hindsight, regretted his role in stoking division and whether his rhetoric helped pave the way for political disruptors like President-elect Trump’s controversial cabinet picks, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Matt Gaetz. Schiff, however, stuck to his guns, asserting that the Mueller report had found clear evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election, even if it didn’t find enough evidence to charge conspiracy or coordination.
“The fact that there were meetings between Trump campaign officials and Russian intelligence officials, that’s evidence,” Schiff argued. However, Tapper pointed out that the Mueller report clearly stated there was no proof of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Schiff’s narrative stems from the discredited Steele dossier, which falsely claimed that Trump’s campaign had colluded with Russia and that the Kremlin had compromising material on Trump. In 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation refuted this, concluding there was no evidence of collusion. Furthermore, the dossier’s credibility was severely damaged in 2021, when Russian analyst Igor Danchenko was indicted for lying to the FBI about its origins.
Despite the overwhelming evidence debunking his claims, Schiff refuses to acknowledge the truth. His continued defense of the baseless allegations highlights the lengths to which some in Washington will go to advance their political agenda, even at the cost of national unity and trust. The question now is whether California voters, who just elected Schiff to the Senate, will hold him accountable for his role in perpetuating one of the most divisive political myths of the past decade.