Whistle-blower Claims Schiff Sanctioned Classified Leaks Against Trump

By John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy | Just the News

A career intelligence officer who worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than a decade repeatedly warned the FBI beginning in 2017 that then-Rep. Adam Schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear then-President Donald Trump over the now-debunked Russiagate scandal, according to bombshell FBI memos that Director Kash Patel has turned over to Congress.

The FBI 302 interview reports obtained by Just the News state the intelligence staffer — a Democrat by party affiliation who described himself as a friend to both Schiff, now a California senator, and former Republican House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes — considered the classified leaking to be “unethical,” “illegal,” and “treasonous,” but was told not to worry about it because Schiff believed he would be spared prosecution under the Constitution’s speech and debate clause.

No publicly-disclosed opinion from the Attorney General or the Solicitor General can be found making that determination as a matter of law.

But officials told Just the News that DOJ officials showed little interest in pursuing Schiff when the allegations were brought to them years ago, citing the very same excuse the lawmaker had offered.

In his most recent interview with the bureau in 2023, the whistleblower, whose name is redacted, told agents from the FBI’s St. Louis office that he personally attended a meeting at which Schiff authorized leaking classified information.

“When working in this capacity, [redacted staffer’s name] was called to an all-staff meeting by SCHIFF,” the interview report said. “In this meeting, SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to indict President TRUMP.”

The whistleblower told investigators that he “stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information,” the 2023 interview report stated.

The staffer made similar claims to agents in the FBI’s Washington field office as early as 2017, shortly after Trump took office for his first term.

You can read the FBI interview reports here:

Democratic HPSCI Staffer – FBI Interview Notes

Schiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The alleged leaks fall outside the statute of limitations for prosecution on most legal theories, but the revelations nevertheless come at a sensitive time for Schiff, who recently was referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution for potential mortgage fraud, based on a story first written by Just the News.

Officials also said some of the DOJ officials who declined to prosecute a rash of classified leaks during the Russiagate affair remain employed in positions of power, a matter that may be of interest to lawmakers in Congress.

“For years, certain officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political narratives,” Patel told Just the News on Monday. “It was all done with one purpose: to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain.

“Those abuses eroded public trust in our institutions,” he added. “The FBI will now lead the charge, with our partners at DOJ, and Congress will have the chance to uncover how political power may have been weaponized and to restore accountability,” he said.

Schiff, who previously served as the ranking member and then chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) before ascending to the Senate, pushed false allegations of Trump-Russia collusion for many years, and touted British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier — even reading multiple baseless claims from it into the congressional record in March 2017.

The whistle-blower began approaching the FBI that same year.

In one meeting, the Democratic HPSCI staffer told the FBI that retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn — Trump’s first national security adviser — was to be a specific focus of the committee as part of a broader effort to target Trump. The whistleblower also specifically pointed to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., as a likely source of classified leaks, the memos state.

Punishment for duty to law instead of party loyalty

The Democratic staffer also allegedly told a former Republican colleague on the committee that he was terminated because Schiff’s staff did not believe he had adequate “party loyalty” after he raised concerns about the leaks strategy, the FBI memos show.

The whistleblower was interviewed twice in 2017 and at least four times over six years about the alleged Schiff leaks, but Justice Department prosecutors declined to move forward, according to the memos, part of a large production of documents Patel sent to the House Judiciary Committee that identified several classified leak schemes carried out by senior government officials over the last decade.

The memos are mostly FBI 302 interview reports, which as explained by one criminal defense law firm, allow an FBI agent to draft a memo—in paragraph form—of what the witness said. It can be one-page long or twenty-pages long, depending on the length of the interview.

The memo section of a 302 is the key part. This is a combination of what the agent was able to write down during the interview and his recollection. It may list the questions and the answers or simply be a narrative of what the witness said. The witness generally doesn’t see the 302 or get a chance to correct any mistakes he thinks are in it before it is finalized.

Whistleblower: Schiff promised CIA appointment if Hillary won

The Democratic whistleblower told the FBI in a December 2017 interview at his home that “the HPSCI work environment started to change around August 2016 as the U.S. presidential election approached.” He said that, during a September 2016 staff meeting, other Democratic staffers revealed they had provided “on background” information to journalists about “their impressions of Russian activity surrounding the upcoming election.”

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