Newly disclosed FBI interview reports now appear to suggest that former Representative Adam B. Schiff, now a Democratic senator from California, personally authorized leaking classified information in an effort to damage Donald J. Trump during his first term — an explosive allegation that, according to one whistleblower, was treated with indifference by Justice Department officials.
The memos, obtained by Just the News and turned over to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel, chronicle a Democratic staffer’s repeated warnings to the bureau beginning in 2017.
A career intelligence officer who had worked for more than a decade on the House Intelligence Committee, the staffer said Schiff told colleagues in a staff meeting that they “would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP” and that it would be used “to indict President TRUMP.”
The whistleblower, a registered Democrat and self-described friend of both Schiff and then-Republican Chairman Devin Nunes, called the conduct “unethical,” “illegal,” and “treasonous.”
We found it. We declassified it.
Now Congress can see how classified info was leaked to shape political narratives – and decide if our institutions were weaponized against the American people. pic.twitter.com/PCpLFLuPmI
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) August 12, 2025
He told the FBI that when he objected, Schiff’s staff reassured him they would not be caught — and claimed Schiff believed he was protected from prosecution under the Constitution’s speech and debate clause. No public legal opinion from the Justice Department supports such an interpretation.
According to the FBI reports, the staffer approached agents in both the Washington field office and the St. Louis office multiple times between 2017 and 2023, detailing leaks he said were designed to undermine Mr. Trump and his national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.
He also named Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, as a suspected source of classified leaks, noting Swalwell had “a reputation for leaking classified information.”
The whistleblower said he was eventually fired for “a perceived lack of party loyalty” after refusing to participate in what he described as a systematic process for deciding “who would leak the information.”
He alleged that Schiff’s staff director oversaw the process, with notes run up to Schiff before leaks were approved.
Patel, in remarks to Just the News, accused senior officials of “weaponiz[ing] intelligence and law enforcement for political gain” and said the goal now is to “restore accountability.”
The allegations arrive as Schiff faces other legal scrutiny, including a recent Justice Department referral on possible mortgage fraud.
They also follow years of Schiff’s high-profile promotion of the discredited Steele dossier and his insistence — contradicted by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller and later by Special Counsel John Durham — that there was “ample evidence of collusion” between Mr. Trump and Russia.
The whistleblower’s claims, while beyond the statute of limitations for most prosecutions, raise fresh questions about the Justice Department’s refusal to pursue classified leak cases during the Trump presidency. Some of the same officials who declined to act still hold positions of influence.
For Republicans, the memos bolster long-standing claims that congressional Democrats used their access to classified information to wage a political campaign against Mr. Trump — and that federal law enforcement looked the other way.
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