The political future of Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA), former ranking member and subsequent chair of the House Intelligence Committee, hangs in the balance as a whistleblower allegation and newly declassified FBI interview reports emerge..
An anonymous whistleblower from the Democratic party has approached the FBI, accusing then-Rep. Adam Schiff of authorizing the release of classified information to the media. The whistleblower alleges that Schiff's explicit objective was to undermine President Donald Trump during the Russiagate scandal.
As reported by Gateway Pundit, the whistleblower, who served Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for over a decade, alerted the FBI from 2017 onwards that Schiff had sanctioned targeted leaks of damaging intelligence against Trump. These declassified FBI 302 interview reports were obtained by Just the News.
Schiff purportedly announced in a staff meeting that the team would leak classified information detrimental to President Trump, with the intention of using these leaks to indict him. The whistleblower voiced his objections to these actions, labeling them as "unethical and possibly treasonous," but was reassured that they would "not be caught leaking classified information."
The whistleblower further alleged that Schiff was under the impression that he would be appointed as the CIA Director had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election. Rep. Eric Swalwell was identified as a probable channel for these leaks. Despite bringing these allegations to light, the whistleblower was abruptly dismissed.
Brett Tolman, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah from July 2006 to December 2009, recently discussed the potential penalties Schiff could face if these allegations result in charges, in a conversation with Benny Johnson.
Johnson posed a question to Tolman, asking, "Every American would say, 'Yeah, absolutely, you shouldn't leak classified information. We don't want that to be something that you can do or get away with. Or, if there's a temptation to do that and get paid for it, then the penalty should be very severe. So, can you talk me through what the penalties would look like for an average individual leaking classified information?'"
Tolman responded, "Yeah. I mean, the fine is up to $250,000 for every leak that's charged, so it depends on the counts in the indictment. Also, keep in mind, some of the punishment hinges on the purpose of the classified leak or the possession of classified documentation illegally. The purpose becomes very important."
He continued, "If you recall, Comey told me when he said no prosecutor would prosecute Hillary Clinton for having classified information, it was just an outright lie. But there was always this question, this debatewhat was the purpose of it? Was it just sloppiness? Same with Joe Biden. Was it sloppiness that he had all of thesethat he used the classified documents to write his memoirs? Was there anything truly nefarious about it?"
Tolman added, "And there was some analysis of Donald Trump. But with President Trump, it was just, 'You had them, we're going to go after you because that's how we're going to apply the law.'"
He concluded, "But in reality, you have to look at the purpose to see whether or not there are aggravating factors here. I believe this was, in essence, the beginning of a conspiracy to take down a president, to impact his ability to lead."
Tolman also mentioned that if the individual was found to be undermining the United States, they could face potential penalties of up to 20 years in federal prison. This case, therefore, has the potential to set a precedent for how such actions are dealt with in the future.
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