Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took to Twitter on Sunday where he posted an edited clip of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) that pertained to a phone call prank that occurred nearly two years ago.
In the phone call, Schiff told two Russian radio hosts posing as a Ukranian politician that he would be willing to accept damaging anti-Trump information.
Rep. Gaetz’s tweet appears to come as Republicans are pushing back at House Democrats after they’ve ramped up their “impeachment efforts” calling for a formal impeachment inquiry, over allegations that President Trump pressured the Ukranian president into investigating former vice president Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
In the clip, Schiff tells the Russian shock-jocks, who were posing as Andriy Parubiy, the former speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, that he would be willing to accept dirt on Trump from the Ukranian, as reported by Fox News.
“So, you have recordings of both [Russian journalist Ksenia] Sobchak and [Russian model and singer Olga] Buzova where they’re discussing the compromising material on Mr. Trump?” Schiff asked the callers posing as Parubiy.
“Absolutely,” one of the pranksters responded, to which Schiff eagerly responded, “Well obviously we would welcome a chance to get copies of those recordings!” (Continued Below)
The Russian radio hosts, Vladimir “Vovan” Kuznetzov and Alexey “Lexus” Stolyarov, who have close ties to the Kremlin, told Schiff that the Kremlin had naked photos of Trump and that “Parubiy” could provide audio of Sobchak and Buzova discussing the photos. They also told Schiff that former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn had met with another Russian to talk about how to prevent the photos from going public, as per Fox News.
Gaetz’s video then proceeds to show a clip of Schiff claiming, “It is illegal and improper and a violation of oath of office, a violation of his duty to defend our elections and our Constitution for the President to merely ‘ask’ for foreign interference.”
The Florida Congressman accused Schiff of hypocrisy for appearing to willfully accept information from the Ukranian government. Gaetz added with his video, “Rep Adam Schiff is a hypocrite.”(Video Below)
Rep. Matt Gaetz’ official video of Schiff:
.@RepAdamSchiff is a hypocrite. pic.twitter.com/LFbGFBUG6r
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 29, 2019
Schiff’s full remarks:
(Continued Below)
Rep. Gaetz also noted that former President Bill Clinton signed a treaty that allows talks of corruption between foreign leaders.
The treaty that was signed between former president President Bill Clinton and Ukraine allows the two countries to work together on “mutual criminal assistance and legal matters”. It included making testimony, people, documents, and other information available if requested to assist with “criminal matters” that include non-criminal “allegations”.
The treaty justifies President Trump inquiring about potential corrupt behavior involving an American citizen.
If we’re going to impeach every President that asks for a favor from a foreign leader, we’re probably just going to have a standing committee on impeachment. pic.twitter.com/I6KbYL34lp
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 30, 2019
(Related: Stephanopoulos To Schiff: ‘If The Facts Are As Damning As You Say, Why Make Up Dialogue?)
