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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Corn: Adam Schiff: House Dems Investigating How Trump Handled Coronavirus Intelligence
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/adam-schiff-house-dems-investigating-how-trump-handled-coronavirus-intelligence/2 hours ago
Adam Schiff: House Dems Investigating How Trump Handled Coronavirus Intelligence
What did the president know and when did he know it?
David Corn
Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow
snip//
Schiff points out that there has been much public reporting in terms of when the earliest indications[were], but many questions remain: What level of the intelligence community was concerned about this? Was it flashing red lights, as some have characterized it, or was it much less, as others have characterized it? Part of the investigation will focus on what Trump knew and when he knew it: So much of the information was in the public record. You had the Chinese reporting the virus. You had the WHO reporting the virus. You had the presidents own people publicly talking about the danger and even well after the virus was an established factthat it was spreading and coming to the United Statesyou still had the president talking it down like it would be no worse than the flu and it was under control.
Another component of the committees investigation, according to Schiff, is an examination of how the intelligence agencies interacted with other parts of the federal government, as the coronavirus threat emerged. You would hope, Schiff says, that as various health agencies are hearing about and learning about this new respiratory disease in China and the Chinese government is making declarations about it, that you could turn to the intelligence community to try to find out the ground truth of those representations. Is it as bad as the Chinese say? Is it worse than what the Chinese have to say? What do we know about whether it is appearing in other countries?
Members of Congress did receive briefings from the intelligence community on the spread of the coronavirus, but Schiff wont characterize what they were told until his investigation is further along. Part of the review will focus on whether Congress was fully briefed on the threat. Well want to know when the chief executive was informed, Schiff remarks.
Schiff says that the committee will absolutely hold hearings and release a report on the coronavirus intelligence. But it wont be easy to do this quickly. The investigation will require questioning witnesses in classified sessionssomething we dont have the capacity to do right now, Schiff explains, given that social distancing prevents gatherings of legislators, staffers, and witnesses in the tightly-controlled and shielded areas used for meetings that cover top-secret information. He adds, Were really just beginning the review and we want to get it right. I dont want to leap to a conclusion one way or another.
Schiff has also introduced a bill that would establish a commissionmodeled on the 9/11 commissionthat would kick into action early next year and investigate the US governments preparation (or lack thereof) for the coronavirus crisis and the steps and missteps the Trump administration took in reacting to the pandemic.
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David Corn: Adam Schiff: House Dems Investigating How Trump Handled Coronavirus Intelligence (Original Post)
babylonsister
Apr 2020
OP
lame54
(35,290 posts)1. Which means Barr will investigate Schiff