Former CIA officer and National Security Council Chief of Staff Fred Fleitz tweeted Tuesday that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff “broke committee rules” and “should recuse himself” from any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
“The NYT confirmed what I said last week: Schiff knew about the CIA whistleblower in advance … At a minimum, Schiff should recuse himself from this impeachment inquiry,” Fleitz tweeted.
1/ The NYT confirmed what I said last week: Schiff knew about the CIA whistleblower in advance — way in advance. Before he even filed his complaint. This is a much bigger scandal that people realize. At a minimum, Schiff should recuse himself from this impeachment inquiry.
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) October 2, 2019
Fleitz was referring to a New York Times story reporting that California Democratic Rep. Schiff had prior knowledge of the whistleblower’s declassified complaint. (RELATED: Report: Whistleblower Was White House-Seconded CIA Agent)
The former NSC chief of staff said Schiff is guilty of breaking Intelligence Committee rules by not sharing the whistleblower complaint with Republican members of the body because “classified info brought to the committee from outside sources MUST BE SHARED WITH BOTH SIDES.”
6/ And here’s the kicker (@Susan_Hennessey &@MiekeEoyang pay attention): under @HouseIntelComm rules, any classified info brought to the committee from outside sources MUST BE SHARED WITH BOTH SIDES. Schiff broke committee rules by not telling committee GOP members about this.
— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) October 2, 2019
Fleitz suggested last week in an op-ed for the New York Post, that after analyzing the whistleblower’s complaint he found it too polished and that it had too much in common with the Democratic impeachment agenda — and an Aug. 28, 2019 tweet from Schiff. (RELATED: Rep. Schiff Fabricates What Trump Said In Ukraine Telephone Call Transcript)
“This document looks as if this leaker had outside help, possibly from congressional members or staff,” Fleitz wrote.
Fleitz, currently the President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy, insisted it’s “more than a coincidence that this complaint surfaced and was directed to the House Intelligence Committee just after Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), an outspoken opponent of Trump, expressed numerous complaints in August 2019 accusing the President of abusing aid to Ukraine to hurt Joe Biden.”