President Donald Trump traded insults with the House intelligence committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, in a sharp exchange on Twitter Monday morning – calling the California congressman “sleazy,” while Schiff hit back over Trump’s TV habits.
Just after 9 a.m. ET Monday, the President tweeted, “Sleazy Adam Schiff, the totally biased Congressman looking into “Russia,” spends all of his time on television pushing the Dem loss excuse!”
About 10 minutes earlier, Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” had played a brief clip of Schiff on TV over the weekend, previewing his questions for Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, who was set to speak to House and Senate investigators Monday.
Schiff’s role on the House intelligence committee is a high-profile position that has granted him a leading role in Congress’ efforts to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and any potential collusion by the Trump campaign.
And Schiff – who regularly appears on television including CNN to provide updates on his committee’s investigation, as well as criticize the Trump administration – leaned into the latest showdown with Trump.
“With respect Mr. President, the problem is how often you watch TV, and that your comments and actions are beneath the dignity of the office,” Schiff tweeted back.
Schiff was needling Trump about his television watching habits – a subject Trump has bristled at in the past. In early July, Trump tweeted that he has “very little time for watching TV,” seemingly in response to a New York Times article, published a day earlier, that discussed Trump’s penchant for TV time.
