Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has been accused of leaking classified information by the former director of the CIA.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he knows that Schiff “leaked classified information that had been provided to him.”
Pompeo said that he was made aware of Schiff’s leaking while he served as both CIA chief and as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
The allegation from Pompeo comes after Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blocked Schiff’s appointment to remain on the House Intelligence Committee.
Schiff had served as chairman of the Intel Committee for the last four years.
McCarthy said he blocked Schiff due to national security concerns.
“During my time as CIA director and secretary of state, I know that he leaked classified information that had been provided to him,” Pompeo said on Fox News on Wednesday.
Pompeo did not offer specifics, but he insisted the problem was bad enough to restrict what he shared with Congress.
Underscoring what a serious charge that is, “Outnumbered” co-host Emily Compagno pressed Pompeo on why there hasn’t been accountability if such leaks would be “a felony at minimum, up to treason.”
“It’s a complicated process, right? It’s difficult to pin down precisely what happened,” Pompeo said.
“But I could tell you that when we provided information to him and to his staff, it ended up in places it shouldn’t have been with alarming regularity.
“We could see it. In the end, I decided, I held back information from them as a result.”
MIKE POMPEO: "The fact that…Schiff was the Chairman of the…Intelligence Committee almost ruined that committee…Schiff should be nowhere near serving on the Intelligence Committee. I don't think he should be seeing classified information." pic.twitter.com/3A0iwMc3Dq
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 25, 2023
Pompeo isn’t the first intelligence leader in the Trump administration to accuse Schiff of leaking classified information.
In January 2021, former acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Richard Grenell claimed Schiff and his team “regularly” leaked classified information.
In April 2021, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested to conservative commentator Lisa Boothe that Schiff could be a source for dubious reports on Russia offering bounties to Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops.
Schiff spokesman Patrick Boland shot back with a brief response to the Washington Examiner at the time.
“Yet another false and baseless claim by Tom Cotton — you would think he would know better by now,” Boland said.
Schiff himself has denied leaking classified information in the past.
“I haven’t. My staff hasn’t,” he told CNN in 2020.
“I can’t speak for what all the members of the committee have done or not done, including a lot of the Republican members,” he added.
Speaker McCarthy kicked Schiff, along with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), from the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, as Slay News reported.
McCarthy had long accused Schiff of being a repeat liar, particularly with investigations related to President Trump.
While explaining why Schiff was booted from the Committee, McCarthy blasted the congressman for repeatedly lying to the American people.
During his interview with Fox News, Pompeo also called Schiff a liar and praised McCarthy for removing him from the panel.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) nominated Schiff to the committee over the weekend, calling him “eminently qualified.”
After he was blocked, Schiff responded by claiming McCarthy’s move was “petty, political payback for investigating Donald Trump.”
Also on Tuesday, Schiff talked about how he was too “paranoid” to take any classified information to his house while serving on the House Intelligence Committee.
“This is what’s so astounding, I think, for all of us on the Intelligence Committee,” Schiff told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who asked if he had taken any records home.
“I never take classified documents to my house.
“I don’t know any reason why people would,” Schiff added.
The conversation happened as it was revealed about a dozen documents marked classified were found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home in Indiana and turned over to the FBI.
The Justice Department already appointed two separate special counsels to investigate Trump and President Joe Biden for their handling of classified materials stored in their residences and offices.
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