A Democratic whistleblower told the FBI that Senator Adam Schiff authorized the leak of classified information related to the Russia collusion investigation in 2017 in an effort to discredit President Trump, newly-released documents show.
The whistleblower, who worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than ten years, first reported Schiff’s alleged behavior to the FBI in 2017, when Schiff was leading the committee’s Russian collusion investigation.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed on Monday that he had handed over the documents, first obtained by Just the News, to Congress. “We found it. We declassified it. Now Congress can see how classified info was leaked to shape political narratives – and decide if our institutions were weaponized against the American people.”
The FBI interviewed the whistleblower most recently in June 2023, at which point the unidentified intelligence officer said he had been part of an all-staff meeting called by Schiff in which the then-California representative “stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States Donald J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to Indict President TRUMP.”
“[The whistleblower] stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information,” the report added.
The whistleblower expressed concerns that Schiff’s actions were “treasonous” and “illegal.”
While the whistleblower was interviewed by the FBI and invited to attend a mock grand jury hearing, the Justice Department ultimately decided not to investigate the allegations further, believing Schiff was protected under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause. The clause prevents the apprehension of legislators for their professional activities except in the event of “Felony, Treason and Breach of the Peace.”
The whistleblower, for his part, told the FBI in 2023 that he did not believe Schiff’s actions were covered by the Speech or Debate Clause.
While rumors spread among committee staff that indicated the whistleblower had been fired for a “perceived lack of party loyalty,” according to an October 2017 FBI memo, the whistleblower told a Republican staffer he had lost his job because “there was an expectation of leaking and he refused to participate.”
The whistleblower said that Democrats on the committee had created a “system” for leaking that involved handing over sensitive information to Schiff, “after which a decision was made as to who would leak the information.”
The whistleblower told the FBI in a December 2017 interview how a “particularly sensitive document” was seen by a small group of lawmakers and staff, including Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell and then leaked out “almost verbatim” within a day.
The whistleblower said he was warned to be careful “because [Swalwell] had a reputation for leaking classified information.”
Schiff routinely promoted unverified allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia throughout Trump’s first term, even going so far as to read portions of the later-debunked Steele Dossier into the Congressional record.
The Republican-held House voted to censure Schiff for his role in promoting the collusion narrative in 2023. Schiff was elected to the Senate the following year.