A career intelligence officer who previously worked with House Intelligence Committee Democrats has accused then-Rep. Adam Schiff of approving classified information leaks targeting President Trump.
FBI memos exclusively obtained by Just the News detail accusations from a whistleblower who repeatedly contacted the bureau in 2017. The intelligence officer alleged that Schiff, serving as ranking member and later chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, announced plans to leak information "derogatory to President of the United States Donald J. Trump" during an all-staff meeting.
The whistleblower expressed concerns about the legality of the proposed leaks during the meeting. According to the FBI memo, the officer was allegedly reassured by other attendees that "they would not be caught."
The intelligence officer was reportedly approached in a separate meeting about leaking classified information. The official described the proposal as "unethical and treasonous" when speaking with the FBI, according to the documents. The whistleblower contacted the bureau following these encounters.
The Department of Justice later informed the whistleblower that the matter would not be investigated further. Officials cited congressional immunity protections under the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause for actions taken on the House floor. This constitutional provision shields lawmakers from prosecution for legislative activities.
The staffer claimed Schiff was "particularly upset" about the 2016 election results. According to the documents, the officer alleged that Schiff "believed he would have been appointed as the director of CIA" if Hillary Clinton had won the presidency.
The officer told the FBI in August 2017 that Schiff believed Russia had hijacked the election. According to the whistleblower's account, Schiff viewed the situation as placing "the United States in the middle of a constitutional crisis." These beliefs allegedly motivated the proposed information leaks.
House Intelligence Committee personnel were reportedly seeking to unmask anonymous individuals mentioned in intelligence documents regarding Trump. The FBI memo indicates these officials wanted to identify the individuals so they could "deal with them." This unmasking process typically reveals the identities of Americans mentioned in foreign intelligence reports.
The allegations suggest a coordinated effort to use classified intelligence for political purposes. The whistleblower's claims paint a picture of systematic attempts to weaponize sensitive information against the sitting president.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel commented on the significance of these revelations to Just the News. "For years, certain officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political narratives," Patel stated. He emphasized that these actions were undertaken "with one purpose: to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain."
Patel noted that such abuses "eroded public trust in our institutions." The FBI director pledged that his agency "will now lead the charge, with our partners at DOJ" to address these concerns. He indicated that Congress would have opportunities to investigate how political power may have been weaponized.
The director's comments signal a potential shift in how the bureau approaches investigations into alleged intelligence community misconduct. His statement suggests renewed scrutiny of past practices that may have compromised institutional integrity.
A spokesperson for Schiff's office provided a comprehensive denial of the accusations to The Daily Caller. "Kash Patel's latest smear against Senator Schiff is absolutely and categorically false," the statement read. The spokesperson characterized the allegations as "defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal."
The statement dismissed the claims as "baseless smears" based on allegations from "a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017." Schiff's office cited issues including "harassment and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the Committee" as reasons for the dismissal. They noted that Trump's own Justice Department and an independent inspector general found the individual to be not credible.
The response emphasized that the whistleblower had "little support for their contentions" and was of "unknown reliability." Schiff's office concluded that the accusations against members of Congress and congressional staff "were not ultimately substantiated" by official investigations.