Late last month, a visibly perturbed Adam Schiff delivered a scathing address to the nine Republican members of the House Financial Services committee who, just minutes prior, called for his resignation in a brief letter.
Not coincidentally, that letter was delivered just hours after Donald Trump called for Schiff’s ouster on Twitter. Schiff’s “Maybe it’s ok with you” speech briefly became a trending topic on social media.
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Adam Schiff Wants To Know If Everybody Has Completely Lost Their Minds
A day later, Trump branded Schiff “pencil neck” during an over-the-top rally in Grand Rapids. Shortly thereafter, the president began selling “pencil-neck Adam” t-shirts on the official Trump-Pence website.
While we continue to think the pressure on Adam will at some point become unbearable, Schiff isn’t easily deterred which is why, on Monday evening, he issued a statement which reads as follows:
As part of our oversight authority and authorized investigation into allegations of potential foreign influence on the U.S. political process, the House Intelligence Committee today issued subpoenas to multiple financial institutions in coordination with the House Financial Services Committee, including a friendly subpoena to Deutsche Bank, which has been cooperative with the Committees.
So, if you were wondering whether the House Intel committee’s reinvigorated probe into whether Trump and/or his businesses are unduly influenced by foreign governments is on ice, the answer is no. Last year, around the same time Devin Nunes was pushing his “Memogate” narrative, the same committee wrapped a similar investigation, concluding that no collusion had in fact occurred.
Schiff’s probe is essentially the same investigation, reborn thanks to the House flipping during the midterms and it’s being conducted alongside similarly aggressive investigations by Jerry Nadler and Maxine Waters. Waters’s Financial Services Committee has zeroed in on Trump’s dealings with Deutsche Bank, as we’ve variously documented here over the past several months.
Eric Trump isn’t amused. “This subpoena is an unprecedented abuse of power and simply the latest attempt by House Democrats to attack the president and our family for political gain”, he said, in a statement.
Deutsche – one of the only institutions willing to put up with the president – reportedly turned down then-candidate Trump for a loan in 2016 out of concern for the bank’s “reputation”. Subsequent reports suggested Deutsche once contemplated extending the repayment dates on at least three loans until after his theoretical second term would end, fearing he might default, leaving the bank in the decidedly unenviable position of having to decide between taking a loss and seizing the property of a sitting US president. Eric insisted those reports were false.
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In any event, Waters issued a statement to go along with Schiff’s on Monday.
“The potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes is a very serious concern”, she said, adding that “the Financial Services Committee is exploring these matters, including as they may involve the president and his associates, as thoroughly as possible pursuant to its oversight authority, and will follow the facts wherever they may lead us.”
Yes, Schiff and Waters will “follow the facts wherever the may lead”, a quest which will invariably “lead” to a lot more of this…
In a rare visit to a big box discount store, I had an enlightening conversation with the check out employee: “I never thought I would say I wasn’t a Republican anymore… I hope they discover Trump was born in Austria and we can deport him.” I hope this is an indication the “crowd” behind Trump at rallies is thinning.