Senator Adam Schiff of California, one of the Democratic Party’s leading antagonists of President Trump, has formed an new legal defense fund in recent days as Mr. Trump threatens him with federal investigations.
As a member of the U.S. House, Mr. Schiff led congressional inquiries into Mr. Trump during his first term in the White House. He served as the lead impeachment manager in Mr. Trump’s first impeachment and then on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Joseph R. Biden Jr., before he left office, issued pre-emptive pardons to the members of that committee in an effort to insulate them from potential actions by the incoming Trump administration. Mr. 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.
Mr. Trump has publicly called for his administration to investigate Mr. Schiff, including in recent remarks at the Kennedy Center, calling Mr. Schiff a derogatory nickname before turning to his attorney general, Pam Bondi.
“I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it,” Mr. Trump said on 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 Ms. 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, the New York Attorney General Leticia James. Mr. Martin is also investigating the real estate transactions of Mr. Schiff, the Times reported.
Paperwork for the “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund” filed with the Internal Revenue Service is dated Aug. 14, records show.
“It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable,” said Marisol Samayoa, a spokeswoman for Mr. Schiff. “This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job.”
Shane Goldmacher is a Times national political correspondent.
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