I don’t think it’s OK!

What follows are the comments of Adam Schiff after being asked to resign as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. I typed the transcript below because I wanted my own copy for its historic significance and because I was impressed with his firm response when pressed by opposition.

I have been an independent voter in the past, casting votes for both Republicans and Democrats depending on the person or issue. I fear that our parties are being hollowed out and emptied of core values because of the Legislative Branch’s failure to stand against corrupt practices.

Is it so difficult for Republicans to be critical of a president, even if some of his actions (conservative judges or environmental policies for example) are supported? I suppose Republicans in Congress are scared of being called tacky names by their bully in the pulpit. None of this is OK! ~Kindly Curmudgeon

“As you have chosen—instead of addressing the hearing—to simply attack me, consistent with the president’s attacks, I do want to respond in this way,

My colleagues may think it’s OK that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate for president as part of what was described as the Russian government’s effort to help the Trump campaign. You might think that’s OK.

My colleagues might think it’s OK that when that was offered to the son of the president, who had a pivotal role in the campaign, that the president’s son did not call the FBI, he did not adamantly refuse that foreign help. No, instead that son said that he would love the help of the Russians.

You might think it’s OK that he took that meeting.

You might think it’s OK that Paul Manafort, the campaign chair, someone with great experience in running campaigns, also took that meeting.

You might think it’s OK that the president’s son-in-law also took that meeting.

You might think it’s OK they concealed it from the public. You might think it’s OK that their only concern was that the dirt they received on Hillary Clinton wasn’t better. You might think that’s OK.

You might think that when it was discovered a year latter that they’d lied about that meeting and said it was about adoptions. You might think it’s OK that the president was reported to have helped dictate that lie. You might think that’s OK, I don’t. 

You might think it’s OK that the campaign chairman of a presidential campaign would offer information about that campaign to a Russian oligarch in exchange for money or debt forgiveness, you might think that’s OK. I don’t.

You might think it’s OK that that campaign chairman offered campaign polling data to someone linked to Russian intelligence, I don’t think it’s OK! 

You might think it’s OK that the president himself called on Russia to hack his opponents emails if they were listening. You might think it’s OK that later that day the Russians in fact attempted to hack a server affiliated with that campaign. I don’t think that’s OK. 

You might think it’s OK that the president’s son-in-law sought to establish a secret back-channel of communications with the Russians through a Russian diplomatic facility. I don’t think that’s OK. 

You might think it’s OK that an associate of the president made direct contact with an associate of the GRU through Guccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks that is considered a hostile intelligence agency. 

You might think that it’s OK that a senior campaign official was instructed to reach out and find what that hostile intelligence agency had to say in terms of dirt on his opponent. 

You might think it’s OK that the national security advisor designee secretly conferred with an ambassador about undermining U.S. sanctions and you might think it’s OK that he lied about it to the FBI.  

You might say that’s all OK. You might say that’s just what you need to do to win. But I don’t think it’s OK. I think it’s immoral, I think it’s unethical, I think it’s unpatriotic, and yes, I think it’s corrupt and evidence of collusion.

Now I have always said that whether this amounts to proof of conspiracy is another matter. Whether the Special Council could prove beyond a reasonable doubt the proof of that crime would be up the Special Council and I would accept his decision and I do. He’s a good and honorable man and he’s a good prosecutor, but I do not think that conduct, criminal or not, is OK and the day we do say that that is OK is the day we will look back and say that is the day America lost its way.”