California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff appears to have conceded that it’s time to “reach across the aisle” and work with Republicans as President-elect Donald Trump is headed back to the White House.
Speaking with NBC San Diego, Schiff spoke about winning the election in November to fill the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat before beginning his full six-year term in the new year.
“I’m going from 750,000 in my district to 40 million, which is very exciting,” Schiff told NBC 7 earlier this month. “In order to get things done, you really have to work with people across the aisle, so there’s a lot of incentive to find good partners.”
The California Democrat, who has spent years attacking and going after Trump, wants to reach across the political spectrum to “get things done.”
“There are times I’m going to have to stand up to the president and push back,” Schiff said. “Californians are going to expect that of me. I’m going to have to try to do both at the same time. I’m sure that will prove to be challenging,” Schiff said.
“Because housing is more and more scarce, and we have a population that’s growing, people are left homeless, or people can’t afford to buy a home, or people can’t afford their rent anymore. And there are things that we can do about this, and a lot of them are bipartisan,” Schiff said.
“On healthcare, on the economy, on bringing prices down, there’s ample room to get these things done if we’re looking for solutions rather than just fighting each other,” Schiff added.
Schiff’s newfound motivation to reach across the aisle comes after he lashed out at Trump after he won November’s presidential election.
In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper questioned Schiff regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s recent cabinet picks.
“You were censured in the House last year for, in their view, holding positions of power during the Trump presidency as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and, according to them, ‘abusing this trust by saying there was evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia,’” Tapper said.
“And I wonder if you are feeling at all, introspective at all, about that was, according to the Mueller report and according to your Republican colleagues, an overstatement? And I wonder if you think, in any way, you helped set the table for these disruptors?” Tapper asked.
“First of all, it wasn’t an overstatement,” Schiff answered. “There is evidence of collusion. The Trump campaign manager was meeting with Russian intelligence and giving them internal polling data, just to give you one example. And the Mueller report sets all this out.”
“It does say, ‘The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,’ which doesn’t mean that he didn’t, that there weren’t meetings, but they didn’t find evidence of it,” Tapper followed up.
Schiff said, “Mueller says that, too. He says, ‘The fact that we didn’t find proof beyond a reasonable doubt doesn’t mean there wasn’t evidence of conspiracy or coordination.’”
Last week, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was nominated to be head of President-elect Donald Trump’s Justice Department, lashed out at Schiff in a fiery exchange during her confirmation hearings.
During his questioning, Schiff tried to secure a commitment from Bondi that she would essentially oppose her boss, the president, on certain pardons that Trump has said he is looking to grant, including many Americans convicted of low-level crimes related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“Will it be your advice to the President: ‘No, Mr. President. I need to go over them on a case-by-case basis. Do not issue blanket pardons.’ Will that be your advice to the President?” Schiff pressed.
Bondi replied, “Senator, I have not looked at any of those files. If confirmed, I will look at the files for the pardons as well as the ongoing investigation.”
The newly elected senator pressed further and questioned Bondi’s ability to handle the workload. “And will you be able to review hundreds of cases on day one?” he asked.
“I will look at every file I am asked to look at,” she said before Schiff then insinuated that she won’t because she wouldn’t have the time, which set Bondi off and led her to bring up the fact that Schiff, as a former member of the House Intelligence Committee, was censured by the chamber shortly after Republicans took control following the 2022 elections.
“You were censured by Congress, Senator, for comments just like this that are so reckless!” Bondi fired back as Schiff talked over her.
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