By claiming that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap but not producing evidence to back up his charge, President Trump may have done irreparable harm to his own credibility, California Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday.
Mr. Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, told ABC’s “This Week” that he doesn’t expect the Justice Department to produce by Monday proof of Mr. Trump’s wiretap claim, as congressional Democrats have demanded.
The president eight days ago tweeted that his Trump Tower offices were wiretapped by the Obama administration during the 2016 election, though he has yet to produce firm proof backing up the accusation.
“You know, there are one of two possibilities here. Either the president quite deliberately, for some reason, made up the charge. Or perhaps, more disturbing, the president really believes this,” Mr. Schiff said.
“And here’s where I think it’s consequential,” he continued. “If six months from now the president should say that Iran is cheating on the nuclear agreement, if he’s making that up, it’s real problem. If he’s not making it up and it’s true, it’s an even bigger problem. Because the question is, would people believe him? Would American people believe him? Would people around the world believe him? And that has real world consequences.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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