OPINION:
Sen. Adam B. Schiff’s dreams of sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office have been dashed. On Monday, FBI Director Kash Patel released transcripts of whistleblower interviews from 2017 confirming what everyone in Washington already knew: Mr. Schiff is the biggest leaker on Capitol Hill.
Rumor is one thing; eyewitness testimony to federal agents about the “rampant leaking” is another. Staffers on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who spilled the beans about the man who was once the committee’s top Democrat were aware they could be prosecuted if they lied about their former boss.
“The leaks were driven from the top; they were structured and intentional. The message conveyed to the staff was the U.S. was facing constitutional crisis and something needed to be done,” the FBI memo summarized.
From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Schiff’s status as ranking member of the intelligence committee made him one of eight lawmakers privy to the nation’s most closely guarded secrets. That worried intelligence officials.
One inspector general noted that a “particularly sensitive” document was viewed by “a small contingent of staff” plus Mr. Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat. Within a matter of hours, its content appeared in the press. Mr. Swalwell raised security red flags not by leaking but by being caught in an illicit dalliance with a Chinese communist spy.
According to the reports, Mr. Schiff had the greatest motivation to reveal confidential information. He wanted to help Hillary Clinton become president in 2016 because he believed she would make him CIA director. Those plans fell apart when candidate Donald Trump unexpectedly prevailed in the election.
The spread of classified material through cutouts intensified to set up President Trump for impeachment.
For example, one of Mr. Schiff’s staffers lived on Capitol Hill with her husband, a Baltimore Sun reporter who hated the commute to Charm City. He was desperate to land a gig in the District. Investigators raised the possibility that he supplied secrets to several outlets. He was later hired by The Washington Post in what surely must have been a coincidence.
Worse, the Russia-related papers being circulated were fabrications sourced from the Steele dossier, a package of lies compiled at Mrs. Clinton’s request. The FBI took its outlandish claims and investigated them, creating the top-secret morsels that Democrats handed to their favorite news reporters.
Credulous and biased journalists swallowed the Russia storyline, and then the FBI turned around and claimed the articles they planted were corroboration of the dossier material. The whole affair was a giant circle leading directly to Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Schiff.
Even though the information was false, the FBI did nothing to stop the ongoing leaks because a prosecution would have exposed the agency’s involvement in creating the falsehoods.
A Democratic employee of the House intelligence committee who objected to divulging classified material was fired. The rest of Mr. Schiff’s team cared about enriching themselves. As the memo explained, “The staff believes Schiff will eventually be a Senator or President and plans to ride his coattails to better career opportunities.”
Mr. Schiff did indeed become a senator from California last year, but that may be where his ambition ends. What’s certain is that his climb to the Golden State governorship, culminating in a presidential run, is looking unlikely. Americans tend not to like people who sell out their country for personal advantage.
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