Full of Schiff

I think Tucker Carlson got the better of the incredibly smug Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff on Tucker’s FOX News show last night. The subject under discussion was Russian cyber hacking in connection with our just concluded election. Schiff should know what he is talking about; he is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Carlson questioned the factuality and basis of Schiff’s assertion.

Among other highlights, Schiff accused Carlson of “carrying water” for Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin before counseling him not to resort to “personal insults.” As Chandler Gill notes, Schiff took it a step further, saying that Carlson’s show should be moved to RT, the news network funded by the Russian government. Schiff repeatedly dodged Carlson’s demand that Schiff attribute the hacking of John Podesta’s email account to the Russian government. In its own way this makes for compelling viewing.

Despite appearances, Schiff may not be entirely full of it. John Schindler adjudicated the issue in a post-election Observer column stating the “fact that Putin and his covert operatives interfered with our election in a propaganda sense (anybody acquainted with Russian spycraft knows the proper term here: Active Measures)[.]” By contrast, Fred Fleitz took a close look at the underlying assessments in his NRO column here. Fleitz notes the ambiguity of the assessments. Fleitz’s column is the best I have read on the subject.

The hacking of Podesta’s email may in any event present a separate case. CNN reported in late October: “The US government has pinned other cyberattacks targeting Democratic groups — including the summer’s hack of the Democratic National Committee — on the Russian government, though it has not yet accused Moscow of the Podesta hack. Moscow has denied involvement.”

Via Chandler Gill/Washington Free Beacon.

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