When Rep. Adam Schiff tried to claim that Donald Trump Jr. had committed a crime at a meeting at Trump Tower, former Special Counsel John Durham cut him off. Representative Schiff implied that Trump Jr. committed a crime by meeting with Russians before the 2016 election.
After referencing Robert Mueller’s and Congress’s investigations, Schiff questioned Durham on whether or not Trump Jr. knew of a Russian official offering “very high-level and sensitive information” implicating Hillary Clinton. Durham replied coolly, saying that he had received phone calls from persons making identical allegations before.
Schiff made an effort to highlight the seriousness of the purported damaging information gathered at the covert meeting in Trump Tower. While Durham did not want to minimize the significance of the meeting, he did clarify that the full story showed that it was a ruse and did not entail conversations concerning Clinton. His opinion was that the meeting was foolish but not illegal.
When Durham suggested meeting with a Russian delegation to gather dirt on the opposition, Schiff questioned the wisdom of such a move and challenged Durham on the matter. Durham admitted that he would never do anything unlawful, but that it was just a bad idea and a waste of time.
Schiff continued by arguing that campaign law would be broken if a candidate were to collude with a hostile country to get damaging opposition research. Durham, unaware of all the details, drew a conclusion without offering a solution.
This conversation took place before the House censured Schiff over his handling of the Trump-Russia probe, as was widely expected. Throughout the probe, Republicans charged that he made false claims against ex-President Trump. A simple majority was all that was needed for the final censure vote, which House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was anticipated to lead.