Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has formed a new legal defense fund in recent days as President Donald Trump threatens him with federal investigations. (Eric Lee/The New York Times/File)
- Sen. Adam Schiff of California forms a new legal defense fund as President Trump threatens him with federal investigations.
- Schiff was lead impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment and served on committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
- Trump has publicly called for his administration to investigate Schiff, including in recent remarks at the Kennedy Center.
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Sen. Adam Schiff of California, one of the Democratic Party’s leading antagonists of President Donald Trump, has formed a new legal defense fund in recent days as Trump threatens him with federal investigations.
As a member of the U.S. House, Schiff led congressional inquiries into Trump during his first term in the White House. He served as the lead impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment and then on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
President Joe Biden, before he left office, issued preemptive pardons to the members of that committee in an effort to insulate them from potential actions by the incoming Trump administration. Schiff said at the time that he did not want such a pardon and called them “unwise” because they established a poor precedent for the rule of law.
Trump Calls on AG Bondi to Investigate Schiff
Trump has publicly called for his administration to investigate Schiff, including in recent remarks at the Kennedy Center, when he used a derogatory nickname to describe Schiff before addressing his attorney general, Pam Bondi.
“I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it,” Trump said Aug. 13, adding of the first-term investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia: “These people put our country at great danger. And Adam Schiff, it was all made up. It was a hoax.”
The New York Times previously reported that Bondi had appointed Ed Martin, the former interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., as a special prosecutor to supervise an investigation into another Trump antagonist, New York Attorney General Letitia James. Martin is also investigating the real estate transactions of Schiff, the Times reported.
Paperwork for the “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund” filed with the IRS is dated Aug. 14, records show.
“It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Sen. Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable,” said Marisol Samayoa, a spokesperson for Schiff. “This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Shane Goldmacher/Eric Lee
c.2025 The New York Times Company
