Sean Hannity made the case that there is incontrovertible proof of Congressman Adam Schiff engaging in his own attempt to collude with Russians, even offering audio to prove his claim.
The Fox News host was responding to comments by Schiff that there has been ample evidence of collusion within the Trump administration.
There is “plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy in plain sight,” Schiff alleged regarding the Trump campaign and Russia.
“Where is it?” Hannity countered. “We’ve been looking for a long time. We do have evidence of collusion. Russian collusion in plain sight. Alright, let’s look shiftless Schiff. He could easily be talking about himself.”
The fired-up host then pivoted to commentary on a case which first came to our attention in February, in which Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, fell victim to Russian pranksters.
A pair of comedians posed as a Ukrainian member of Parliament (Andriy Parubiy) and told Schiff that Vladimir Putin had naked blackmail pictures of Trump.
When they promised to deliver the dirt on the President during an in-depth phone call, the California Democrat went so far as to arrange for staff to collect “classified” material for the FBI.
https://t.co/D6OfPIP6EU CAUGHT! Adam Schiff gets caught in prank call from Russian comedians. He was trying to dig up dirt on Trump in a secret call with Russian agents. He didn’t know he was being pranked. He was promised nude photos of @realDonaldTrump . Must listen
— Stonewall Jackson (@1776Stonewall) February 6, 2018
In the audio captured above, the comedians first claim that Trump had an affair with Russian model and singer Olga Buzova while in Moscow for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant.
“She got compromising materials on Trump after their short relations,” the caller told Schiff.
“OK, and what’s the nature of the material?” Schiff queried.
“Well, there were pictures of naked Trump,” the caller claimed, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had seen the images.
Sean Hannity Highlights Russian Collusion Case, But Not For Donald Trump — For Adam Schiff https://t.co/UCHWeNavrO pic.twitter.com/oan71Tv8B8
— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 7, 2018
Schiff claimed he knew the call was a joke almost instantly.
That, however, is a ridiculous assertion, since Schiff actually announced he would set up a meeting to obtain the materials.
“I’ll be in touch with the FBI about this,” he stated. “And we’ll make arrangements with your staff. I think it probably would be best to provide these materials both to our committee and to the FBI.”
Following the call, an aide to the congressman arranged to have documents dropped off at the Ukrainian embassy so another staffer could pick them up.
“Adam Schiff can be heard discussing the committee’s Russia investigation and increasingly bizarre allegations about Trump with a man who claimed to be Andriy Parubiy, the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.” Schiff has some explaining to do. https://t.co/74HcIb6cUn pic.twitter.com/WxzJIv9odR
— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) February 6, 2018
“I understand Mr. Schiff had a productive call with Mr. Parubiy, and that Mr. Parubiy would like to make some material available to Mr. Schiff through your embassy,” wrote one aide on April 4th, 2017.
“Please let me know how best to arrange pick-up of those materials from your Embassy in Washington, D.C.,” the message continued.
Another follow-up request asking to meet for the materials was sent the next day.
In other words, Schiff didn’t know he had a prankster on his hands, he thought he had compromising material on President Trump and he colluded with supposed Ukrainian and Russian officials to obtain them.
The congressman has been issuing a plea to supporters asking to combat the supposed lies coming from Hannity’s show.
President Trump’s biggest fans at Fox News, including Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, keep attacking me with lies and insults. Show them you have my back: make a contribution to help me hit my end-of-month deadline.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiffCA) July 28, 2018
But it’s Schiff’s own words that betray him. They reveal the one true politician who was willing to collude with another country to interfere with the presidency of the United States.
Perhaps that’s what led colleague Tucker Carlson to refer to him as an “irresponsible buffoon.”
Why has this phone call and what Schiff was clearly attempting to set up not been investigated by Congress?