The Justice Department’s investigation to Sen. Adam Schiff hasn’t uncovered enough evidence to charge the California Democrat, leaving the matter at “a standstill.”
The development, NBC News reported Thursday, came after federal prosecutors in Maryland spent months looking into a May criminal referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, which alleges possible mortgage fraud. Schiff has denied wrongdoing.
A federal law enforcement official—one of four people familiar with the investigation who spoke to NBC—said the probe “came to a standstill.” The attorney overseeing it, Kelly Hayes, met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier this week about where things stood, according to the report. The outcome from her meeting with Donald Trump’s former personal attorney was that Hayes would try to seek out more evidence.
Trump has openly targeted Schiff for prosecution, and likewise with former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton. Those three have each been indicted in recent weeks.
Schiff’s attorney, Preet Bharara, said in a statement to NBC: “It seems pretty clear that a team of career prosecutors have thoroughly reviewed the politically-motivated allegations against Senator Schiff and found they are unsupported by any evidence and are baseless.”
Bharara added: “The transparently vindictive effort to pursue the Senator has no merit, and if there is any justice left in the Justice Department, this should be the end of the matter.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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