On Monday's Anderson Cooper 360, CNN's Gloria Borger filed a pre-recorded report in which she misleadingly portrayed liberal California Democratic Congressman and impeachment manager Adam Schiff as a "moderate" as she recounted his political career.
Borger did not clarify that his voting record has never been moderate, and, after his already Democratic district became even more strongly liberal in 2013, Schiff further distanced himself from moderates by resigning from the Blue Dog Coalition.
Early on in the piece, the CNN reporter recalled some of President Donald Trump's many Twitter attacks on Schiff, leading to a clip of the congressman dismissing what President Trump has to say about him:
BORGER: Anyone not living under a rock knows that Schiff is one of President Trump's favorite Twitter targets.
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: I can't even keep up with the President's Twitter attacks on me. My staff has stopped sending them to me, they're too numerous.
BORGER: You don't follow him on Twitter?
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: I don't follow him, no. I have more important things to do.
BORGER: Like make the case against Trump in the Senate trial.
After letting Schiff explain why he changed his mind and moved toward supporting an impeachment of President Trump, Borger used the "moderate" label as she recalled his election to Congress in 2000:
BORGER: Schiff came to Congress from his Los Angeles County district almost 20 years ago -- a moderate Democrat who beat the Republican incumbent, a leader of the impeachment fight against Bill Clinton. How's that for irony?
Borger did not clarify that, although Schiff joined the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate House Democrats in 2001, his voting record was always more liberal than the other members. In 2002, the American Conservative Union gave him a 10 percent score for his first two years in office, while Americans for Democratic Action correspondingly gave him an 85 percent rating in 2001 and a 95 percent rating in 2002.
His most recent ACU rating -- for 2018 -- was eight percent, and his most recent ADA rating for the same year was 85 percent.
His lifetime ACU score is a pathetic 5. Moderate?
He eventually left the group in 2013 after his district became more strongly liberal. Borger then tied in Russia, harkening back to a case Schiff helped prosecute in federal court:
BORGER: Before Congress, Schiff served in the California State Senate, but his greatest impact came as an assistant U.S. attorney when he prosecuted an FBI agent for selling secrets to the Russians.
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: Well, it does feel at times like my life has come full circle.
Then came a clip of former Democratic Congressman Steve Israel bolstering Schiff as someone who wanted to be bipartisan:
FORMER CONGRESSMAN STEVE ISRAEL (D-NY): What people don't understand about Adam is that he wanted to go on the Intelligence Committee for two principle reasons -- number one, it was bipartisan, and, number two it was quiet. And so I often say to him, "How'd that work out for you, buddy?"
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Monday, January 20, Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN:
AC 360
1/20/2020
GLORIA BORGER: It's been nothing but turbulence for Adam Schiff for these past months.
CONGRESSMAN ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I now recognize myself to give an opening statement in the impeachment inquiry into Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
BORGER: It's of course much more intense now than ever before.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He should resign from office in disgrace, and frankly they should look at him for treason.
BORGER: Anyone not living under a rock knows that Schiff is one of President Trump's favorite Twitter targets.
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: I can't even keep up with the President's Twitter attacks on me. My staff has stopped sending them to me, they're too numerous.
BORGER: You don't follow him on Twitter?
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: I don't follow him, no. I have more important things to do.
BORGER: Like make the case against Trump in the Senate trial. But, just months ago, Schiff was in the camp that believed impeachment was not a good idea. So what changed his mind?
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: What made this a necessity for me and so many of my colleagues is that if the President believes that he can abuse his office, the power of that office, he can fail to defend our national security and there is no accountability, even if the accountability is only in the House, that's too dangerous a prospect to persist.
BORGER: Schiff came to Congress from his Los Angeles County district almost 20 years ago -- a moderate Democrat who beat the Republican incumbent, a leader of the impeachment fight against Bill Clinton. How's that for irony?
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF (FROM 2000 CAMPAIGN): Mr. Rogan's priority has always been in engaging in these national partisan ideological crusades, and ignoring the business at home in the district. And I don't think people value that.
BORGER: Before Congress, Schiff served in the California State Senate, but his greatest impact came as an assistant U.S. attorney when he prosecuted an FBI agent for selling secrets to the Russians.
CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF: Well, it does feel at times like my life has come full circle.
BORGER: From a major role in the Republican-led 2014 Benghazi investigation to becoming chairman of the Intelligence Committee this year to leading the charge against Donald Trump.
FORMER CONGRESSMAN STEVE ISRAEL (D-NY): What people don't understand about Adam is that he wanted to go on the Intelligence Committee for two principle reasons -- number one, it was bipartisan, and, number two it was quiet. And so I often say to him, "How'd that work out for you, buddy?"
