Adam Schiff Under Fire After 2018 Clip Comes Back To Haunt Him

U.S. Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA) is facing an unfortunate reminder from the internet about his past condemnations about President-elect Donald Trump’s musings that he would pardon members of his family, a situation that took on new life Monday following President Joe Biden’s blanket pardoning of his son Hunter Biden.

On X, users recirculated a clip from 2018 showing Schiff telling former CNN host Don Lemon that Trump, if he were to pardon one of his sons while under investigation, could be found guilty of obstruction of justice. “In the event that the president pardons anyone in an investigation in which the president is a witness, the subject, or the target, those investigative files would all be turned over to the Congress. The Congress ought to know whether the president is using the pardon power to obstruct justice. The American people have a right to know,” Schiff said, explaining legislation he filed at the time to rein in Trump’s ability to pardon family members. “I think it is clearly constitutional. It doesn’t prevent him from granting a pardon, even a pardon he shouldn’t grant, but it does say that we will be able to at least find out whether the president is using this power to shield himself.”

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WATCH:

Adam Schiff in 2018 said pardoning a president’s son could be an effort to obstruct justicepic.twitter.com/XLn6tOnZSm

— Wendell Husebø (@WendellHusebo) December 2, 2024

During President-elect Trump’s first term, the California lawmaker was a thorn in his side, co-chairing the J6 select committee and spearheading the House’s first impeachment effort against him. Since winning his Senate election last month, Schiff has taken on an elevated role in Washington, one that could see him forced to backtrack on some of his most incendiary statements about the so-called abuse of power by Trump. Democrats largely remained mum on Monday, one day after Biden issued a “full and unconditional” pardon for his son that extends to the past 11 years. The decision now vacates a felony conviction on gun charges and avoids the spectacle of a sentencing hearing later this month that could have seen Hunter Biden subjected to prison time. He will also be pardoned in a case involving felony tax evasion, both of which were prosecuted by special counsel David Weiss.

Trump eviscerated the pardon on Sunday, calling it an “injustice” and promising to use pardons in defense of his own family if confronted with politicized prosecution. Mainstream media analysts found little to quibble with in that sentiment, including Elie Honig at CNN. “Without question, there has long been a fair debate on both sides whether Hunter Biden is being treated overly leniently or overzealously because of his status as Joe Biden’s son. I think there are points to both sides of that. But I think that what’s not disputable is this is a historic act of political nepotism,” Honig said on Monday.

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