California Sen Adam Schiff changes tune on DOJ, reams increasingly 'Orwellian' leadership

The California Democrat and former U.S. prosecutor, who served four House terms before his election to the Senate last fall, has long been an outspoken Trump foe, using his former posts as chair of the House Oversight Committee and impeachment probes to urge a more independent-minded Justice Department. 

"The rule of law is a core foundation of our nation," Schiff previously told Time Magazine during Trump's first term in office. "No one, not even the president, is above it."

Schiff once served as a federal prosecutor at the Justice Department, where he helped successfully convict an ex-FBI agent on charges of spying for the Soviet Union. Throughout his later service in the House, he repeatedly defended the Justice Department as independent-minded and asserted that its career officials operate above the political fray. 

He also chided his Republican colleagues who, in his view, too harshly criticized the agency, warning them that doing so could lead to an erosion of trust.

Fewer than four years later, however, Schiff is singing a different tune. 

On Monday, he pushed back against Trump's claim that he and other members of the House committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot could be subject to "investigation at the highest level," as the president threatened in a Truth Social post.

"The members of the Jan 6 Committee are all proud of our work," Schiff wrote on X, in response to Trump's remarks. "Your threats will not intimidate us. Or silence us."

Last month, Schiff joined other Democrats on the panel in urging the administration to turn over information that prompted their decision to remove or reassign dozens of career Justice Department officials and FBI personnel. 

That questionnaire is also the subject of a lawsuit filed this year by current and former FBI agents, who are seeking to head off any retaliation or discriminatory action against personnel involved in the Jan. 6 probe. A judge is expected to hear from both parties in court later this month.

Most recently, Trump attempted to strip security clearances and access to federal government buildings for all Perkins Coie employees, a law firm he sees as opposed to his political agenda, prompting a federal judge to step in and block the order.

 "An American President is not a king - not even an 'elected' one - and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute," U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell wrote in a court order this month that blocked one of Trump's executive orders from taking force.

Schiff, for his part, appears to share that view.

"There could be no more frontal assault on the post-Watergate policy of having some division between the White House and the Justice Department than the Supreme Court of the United States saying, 'Break down that wall. Use the department any way you wish. Create cases where there's no evidence. Dismiss cases where there's plenty of evidence. And you will never face accountability. No matter how corrupt a motive,'" Schiff said this month. 

Reached for comment about his evolving views on the Justice Department, Schiff's office pointed Fox News Digital to his previous remarks, including a February interview on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell." Asked about his claims that Trump has weaponized the Justice Department - and the severity of the issue - Schiff responded, "We've had a debate about what level of constitutional crisis we're in, and frankly, I think we're already there."