Following Monday’s softball interview with Senator Raphael Warnock, CBS Mornings brought in liberal media darling (and likely serial leaker) and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) for a rhetorical foot massage over his work on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot, pleading with him to run for Senate in 2024, and teeing him up to attack likely incoming House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
CBS even had Schiff on at the same time Warnock appeared and teased him at the end of the first half hour with co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King, saying “hello” and saying he was there “to talk about the January 6th findings coming out today...and the recommendation that former President Trump should be charged with crimes.”
Co-host Tony Dokoupil returned from break to boast that Schiff’s committee will “release its full report” Wednesday based on “about 1,200 interviews and more than one million documents” “follow[ing] a vote on Monday, a big one really, historic vote, recommending that the Justice Department pursue possible criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.”
Dokoupil had the first few questions with them all being so basic in nature Schiff could have done this in his sleep, starting with this: “I have heard you say you believe there is enough publicly available evidence to charge the former President. Given that being the case in your view, do you think he will be charged by the DOJ?”
Schiff complimented him for the “very good question” before saying the Justice Department should if they were to follow the “standard of the rule of law” with not even Trump being worthy of special treatment.
The CBS co-host followed up: “[U]nder what circumstances, then, what calculations would the DOJ, the special counsel, decide not to indict?”
After Schiff said they could say there needed to be “a higher burden of proof” or such a prosecution “would be too divisive, look too political” and that he disagreed with both, Dokoupil ruled that such a prosecution would be best in order to heal the country: “Well, so, how damaging, in your view, would it be to our effort to heal and restore a sense of normalcy in the aftermath of January 6th? How important is it they go through a normal set of circumstances with an indictment that you think is deserved?”
Wrapping himself in the Founders, Schiff said they “would have never accepted the idea that a President is somehow unprosecutable” and thus could “commit any crime” without facing consequences.
Co-host Nate Burleson wondered if the Justice Department’s been “moving too slowly” and, after Schiff said they have, Burleson followed up: “Isn't it good to be deliberate and even meticulous in how they approach this?”
All Schiff had to do was say it’s “almost” been “two years from the events of that day” for Burleson to be satisfied: “That makes sense.”
King took a turn greasing the skids:
How difficult a decision was this for you all to reach this conclusion? Listen, we saw all the evidence, we hear unprecedented and historic. I think it's important for the people to know the time and care that was put in this. Was this a difficult decision? Because Donald Trump says political witch hunt, there's no there there, it's all about politics.
Dokoupil then teased Schiff to share the report (click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: What are we going to learn from this full report scheduled to be released later today that we don't already know?
SCHIFF: A lot. Now, it's a lot that fills in some of the missing pieces. And with the report we're going to begin rolling out transcripts, so you'll see why we don't find Tony Ornato, the deputy chief of staff, very credible when he says essentially he wasn't aware of the propensity for violence that day. You'll hear a lot more of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony and other key witnesses. And I guarantee there will be some very interesting, new information in the report and — and even more so in the transcripts that we release.
DOKOUPIL: Could you show us a bit of it now? Give us a little bit of a tease more?
SCHIFF: Ah, well, you'll see why we're concerned that witnesses may have been interfered with or an attempt to influence them.
BURLESON: Mmhmm.
SCHIFF: And — and I think you'll hear, you know, much more very interesting but granular detail about these multiple lines of effort to overturn the election.
Following two questions about Ukraine and fears the next Congress won’t be able to continue funding the war effort on Russia, Dokoupil invited him to run for Senate in 2024 if Dianne Feinstein doesn’t run again and since he’ll likely be removed from the Intelligence Committee by Republicans.
As for King and Burleson, he teed them up to bash Kevin McCarthy and sat back as he smeared Republicans as dangerous (click “expand”):
DOKOUPIL: Congressman, I want to talk about you for a moment here. The Republicans, as they take control in 2023, are widely expected to remove you from your committee position on the Intel Committee. Dianne Feinstein also — questions about whether she'll run in 2024. That would open up a historic seat there in the state of California for Senate. Do you plan to run for Senate for that seat?
SCHIFF: Well, you know, first let me address the committee issue. This is something that Kevin McCarthy is threatening to do to try to get the votes of the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world. And while I have particular interest in whether I remain chair or ranking member of Intel, the bigger concern, for me frankly, is if McCarthy becomes speaker and the next presidential election is close and they lose, he’ll overturn the results. And, to me, that's far more serious an issue than what happens to my committees. In terms of Senate, if the Senator, Senator Feinstein, who I admire greatly, decides to retire, I'm giving it very serious consideration, getting a lot of encouragement back home.
BURLESON: Yeah.
KING: Do you think he's going to become Speaker, Kevin McCarthy?
SCHIFF: I think, if I had to guess, that he becomes speaker, but he doesn't remain speaker.
BURLESON: Yeah.
KING: Why?
SCHIFF: The easy decision is the first one. The hard decision is when you actually have to decide policy, and there —
KING: Why wouldn't he remain speaker?
SCHIFF: — I think one of the kind of hidden stories of the midterms is that a lot of these Q-Anon, right-wing, crazy Republicans won primaries in deeply red districts. We didn't hear about them too much because they weren't in competitive general elections. They're coming. The crazy caucus in the Republican Party of Congress is going to grow.
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To see the relevant transcript from December 21, click here.
