Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) indicated this week that he is not concerned about the impeachment effort hindering the re-election chances of vulnerable Democrats.
“Let the chips fall where they may,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff declared, seemingly throwing some of his Democrat colleagues under the bus.
Schiff’s comments came during an interview Monday at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, moderated by New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof.
The moderator noted that former Rep. James Rogan (R-CA) lost his congressional seat to Schiff in 2000 after voting in favor of impeaching President Bill Clinton.
Kristof asked Schiff:
There are certainly some House members and some Senators who are going to be up for re-election. … Do you worry that whether because of Fox News, whether because of polarization that this investigation is going to end up hurting some of these Democrats … in the same way that it hurt James Rogan when you first ran for office?
Schiff responded:
I don’t’ focus on, and I really don’t do the analyses of how does this cut in 2020. I can understand why people are really interested [in] and concerned about that. I don’t think that’s the question I should be asking myself. There are good arguments that could be made about this base being more excited or that base being more excited by impeachment. I think the question that we need to ask ourselves in Congress is — is this the right thing to do for the country and let the chips fall where they may.
Schiff is one of the chairmen leading the impeachment investigation. The Democrat-led Committee on Oversight and Reform, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs are conducting the impeachment probe.
Some constituents in Democrat-controlled congressional districts have already expressed dismay at their lawmakers’ support for the impeachment investigation into U.S. President Donald Trump.
Vulnerable freshman Democrats in the House representing Republican-friendly regions, in particular, met at least some opposition to their support for the impeachment investigation during the recent two-week congressional recess.
Recent internal polling suggested a storm is brewing for vulnerable Democrats in key congressional districts.
Polling by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) showed most voters do not consider Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky an impeachable offense.
A “whistleblower’s” claim that Trump attempted to pressure Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden and his son, Hunter by withholding aid triggered the impeachment probe. Trump and Zelensky have denied the allegation.
According to some polls, public support for impeaching and removing Trump is on the rise. Some of those polls, however, have been discredited.
Although the vast majority of House Democrats support the impeachment probe, eight do not, the New York Times reported.