**Written by Doug Powers
It’s been 13 months since the presidential election, and Hillary Clinton’s offer of $20 for each time any Democrat implies that the reason she lost is Russia must still be on the table. Rep. Adam Schiff continues to demonstrate that “Trump colluded with Russia to win the election” is a narrative in desperate search of real-world evidence to back it up, and he’s not stopping until somehow willing it into existence:
CNN host Jake Tapper ran through the thread of stories in the Russian collusion narrative while interviewing Schiff on “State of the Union.”
“We haven’t seen the actual connection,” Tapper said. “We haven’t seen an actual proof of cooperation and collusion, so what am I missing here?”
Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Tapper needed to look at the “pattern and the chronology” of Russian and Trump campaign activity. He pointed to the Russians informing the Trump campaign they possessed stolen Hillary Clinton emails, the Russians approaching the Trump campaign offering “dirt” on Clinton, and communications between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks.
[…]
Tapper asked if Schiff knew of any communications showing the Russians revealed to the Trump team how they would distribute useful information, but the congressman said he could not comment.
Schiff doesn’t even say he can’t talk about specific evidence by doing the “I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you” routine, he just says he can’t comment. Writing at the Wall Street Journal, James Freeman asks the question of the year:
Of course Mr. Schiff doesn’t just answer to the media; he also has pledged to keep America’s secrets. He could correctly argue that according to the rules of the House Intelligence Committee he is prohibited from disclosing classified information.
But the rules go further than that. As a member of the committee, Mr. Schiff is not only barred from disclosing classified material; he’s also prohibited from discussing such information, or even causing it to be discussed.
Is it possible that he’s managed to avoid running afoul of House rules because the information doesn’t exist?
I know one place the information does exist because it definitely lives rent-free in Schiff’s head — and that’s good enough for the media to keep giving this broken record significant air time.
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
