Sen. Adam Schiff launched a legal defense fund as the California Democrat faces a federal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud and President Donald Trump repeatedly condemns him for years of allegedly promoting the “Russiagate” hoax.
“It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable,” a spokeswoman for Schiff told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening. “This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job.”
The legal fund, dubbed “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund,” was filed with the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, according to the New York Times.
Trump and Schiff have long been political foes, stretching back to the president’s first administration, when Schiff — who was serving in the U.S. House at the time — oversaw the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020 for alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and for repeatedly promoting the narrative that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.
“Russia, Russia, Russia. Totally phony, created by Adam Schiff, Shifty Schiff, and Hillary Clinton and the whole group of them,” Trump said from the Kennedy Center Wednesday.
Trump was referring to recently declassified documents alleging the Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence” to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise.
“It made it very dangerous for our country because I was unable to really deal with Russia the way we should have been,” Trump continued from the Kennedy Center, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “And I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it.”
White House spokesman Harrison Fields called Schiff a “fraud” and “corrupt politician” when approached for comment on Tuesday regarding the legal fund.
“Adam Schiff is a sleazy and corrupt politician who betrayed his oath to the Constitution by prioritizing his selfish and personal animosity toward the President over the interests of the American people. No amount of money can shield Adam from the truth that he is a fraud,” Fields said.
Schiff also came under fire earlier in August when documents released to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel reported that a Democratic whistleblower who worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years told the FBI in 2017 that Schiff allegedly approved leaking classified information on Trump that “would be used to indict President TRUMP.” Schiff denied the allegations as “absolutely and categorically false.”
Schiff notably served on the Jan. 6 committee, which investigated the day in January 2021 when Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, and was among lawmakers who were granted preemptive pardons on President Joe Biden’s final day in office in 2025.
The California Democrat also is facing a federal investigation for mortgage fraud, as previously reported. Schiff has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the matter is a “baseless attempt at political retribution.”
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