Last updated on May 25th, 2018 at 08:45 am
Despite the White House saying no Democrats will be invited to Thursday’s meeting about an FBI informant in the Trump campaign, Congressman Adam Schiff said on Wednesday that a member of the president’s cabinet told him otherwise.
According to Rep. Schiff, if it turns out that he was misled by the unnamed member of the administration, it will “be another sign that our system of checks and balances is being broken down by this president.”
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WATCH: @RepAdamSchiff tells @maddow a cabinet member said tomorrow’s FBI informant briefing would bipartisan, “at the Gang of 8 Level.”
If that changes, Schiff adds “it would be another sign that our system … is being broken down by this president.” pic.twitter.com/8jxDhkMJIz
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 24, 2018
When Maddow asked Schiff to confirm what he was told by a Trump cabinet member, the Democrat responded:
That’s what I was told. I was told when it was be and I was told that it would be at the gang of eight level. That the White House would open the meeting and then leave the room. And that’s what I expect to happen tomorrow. No one has called me to contradict what I was informed by the head of one of our intelligence agencies. If we learn that through pressure from the White House or partisan pressure from the hill that the intelligence community has abandoned the protocol of meeting with the gang of eight, it will be another sign that our system of checks and ambulances is being broken down by this president.
Adam Schiff and Democrats won’t take no for an answer
While the White House has offered a slew of ridiculous excuses as to why they planned to break protocol and keep Democrats out of the sensitive meeting, Adam Schiff hasn’t backed down in demanding they be allowed to attend.
On Wednesday, it appears those efforts were successful, and he was given a commitment by at least one member of Trump‘s cabinet that the controversial briefing will be bipartisan.
Given the fact that no one in this White House is ever on the same page as the man sitting in the Oval Office, it’s likely that this story will continue to develop as the meeting approaches.
It looks as though the White House could be headed for a major in-person confrontation with Democrats if they ultimately choose to block them from attending the briefing – especially now that one of their own intelligence officials formally invited them.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
