Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Thursday accused lawmakers across the aisle of forming an "immoral majority" that seeks to put former President Donald Trump back in the Oval Office, regardless of his conviction on 34 felony counts in New York.
"My Republican colleagues don't really contest Donald Trump's guilt; this is the fascinating thing," Schiff said. "Their argument is essentially he should have never been prosecuted, or they falsely claim it was a political prosecution, or they falsely claim it should have been a misdemeanor, not a felony."
"But they don't contest — not really — that Donald Trump was making hush money payments to a porn star to hide their affair from voters," the lawmaker continued. "What they're really saying is they're more than comfortable electing — nominating and electing as the president of the United States — someone making hush money payments to a porn star.
"The party, formally of the 'moral majority,' is now, I suppose, trying to fashion some kind of immoral majority to reinstate Donald Trump as president."
Schiff's comments came during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office and its investigation of Trump's payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election.
After being recognized by Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the California Democrat began his remarks by repeating the word "guilty" 34 times in a row, once for each guilty count in the former president's Manhattan paperwork trial.
"I want to begin by quoting the jury in the Manhattan hush money payment trial," Schiff said.
"Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty," he said 34 times. "This was what the jury pronounced, unanimously on every count."
Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally convicted when he was found guilty late last month of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The charges stemmed from reimbursements Trump made to Michael Cohen, his former attorney and fixer, for a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels to silence her about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president. Trump has denied any such encounter occurred.
Congressional Republicans railed against the trial and conviction, slamming the proceedings as politically motivated and fundamentally unfair.
In a statement released ahead of Thursday's hearing, the Judiciary Committee said the purpose of the hearing was to examine "Alvin Bragg's political prosecution of President Trump."
"With his unprecedented, politicized indictment of President Trump, Manhattan District Attorney Bragg has opened the door for politically motivated prosecutions of federal officials by state and local prosecutors," the committee said.
Hearing witnesses included Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Federal Election Commissioner Trey Trainor, attorney Elizabeth Price Foley and Norman Eisen, former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic.
Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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