Former Trump administration official Mike Pompeo accused Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) of leaking classified information.
The fresh allegation was made after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blocked Schiff’s appointment to remain on the House Intelligence Committee, where he served as chairman for the last four years.
“During my time as CIA director and secretary of state, I know that he leaked classified information that had been provided to him,” Pompeo said on Fox News on Wednesday.
Pompeo did not offer specifics, but he insisted the problem was bad enough to restrict what he shared with Congress.
Underscoring what a serious charge that is, “Outnumbered” co-host Emily Compagno pressed Pompeo on why there hasn’t been accountability if such leaks would be “a felony at minimum, up to treason.”
“It’s a complicated process, right? It’s difficult to pin down precisely what happened,” Pompeo said. “But I could tell you that when we provided information to him and to his staff, it ended up in places it shouldn’t have been with alarming regularity. We could see it. In the end, I decided, I held back information from them as a result.”
MIKE POMPEO: "The fact that…Schiff was the Chairman of the…Intelligence Committee almost ruined that committee…Schiff should be nowhere near serving on the Intelligence Committee. I don't think he should be seeing classified information." pic.twitter.com/3A0iwMc3Dq
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 25, 2023
The Daily Wire reached out to Schiff’s office for comment on Pompeo’s claims. “This is another patently false and defamatory statement from Mike Pompeo. While we understand that Adam Schiff is a favorite target for the failed lackeys of the Trump administration running for president, reputable news outlets shouldn’t repeat these falsehoods,” Schiff spokesperson Lauren French told The Hill.
Schiff has denied leaking classified information in the past. “I haven’t. My staff hasn’t,” he told CNN in 2020 before offering the caveat: “I can’t speak for what all the members of the committee have done or not done, including a lot of the Republican members.”
Pompeo isn’t the first intelligence leader in the Trump administration to accuse Schiff of leaking classified information. In January 2021, former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell claimed Schiff and his team “regularly” leaked classified information.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested to conservative commentator Lisa Boothe in April 2021 that Schiff could be a source for dubious reports on Russia offering bounties to Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops. Schiff spokesman Patrick Boland shot back with a brief response to the Washington Examiner at the time, “Yet another false and baseless claim by Tom Cotton — you would think he would know better by now.”
McCarthy kicked Schiff, along with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), from the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. McCarthy had long accused Schiff of being a repeat liar, particularly with investigations related to former President Donald Trump. During his interview with Fox News, Pompeo also called Schiff a liar and praised McCarthy for removing him from the panel.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) nominated Schiff to the committee over the weekend, calling him “eminently qualified.” After he was blocked, Schiff responded by claiming McCarthy’s move was “petty, political payback for investigating Donald Trump.”
Also on Tuesday, Schiff talked about how he was too “paranoid” to take any classified information to his house while serving on the House Intelligence Committee. “This is what’s so astounding, I think, for all of us on the Intelligence Committee. I never take classified documents to my house,” Schiff told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who asked if he had taken any records home. “I don’t know any reason why people would,” Schiff added.
The conversation happened as it was revealed about a dozen documents marked classified were found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home in Indiana and turned over to the FBI. The Justice Department already appointed two separate special counsels to investigate former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for their handling of classified materials stored in their residences and offices.