The Dispute Index

Adam Schiff

Portrait of Adam Schiff

United States senator from California.

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What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Adam Schiff on 2026 Midterm Elections, Arts and Culture, and Campaign Finance, among other topics. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

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Statements by Adam Schiff

Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. senator for California

Condemned

Statement summary

Schiff accuses ICE of routine lying and blames the example set by DHS leadership.

“The routine lying by ICE is the result of the example set by leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Adam Schiff criticizes ICE's account of the Moreida collision · Adam SchiffPost 2113786752364077120
Why we used this label

The case concerns the ICE vehicle collision with Moreida and the federal justification and account of it. Schiff accuses federal immigration officials of lying about the collision and criticizes DHS leadership.

Read statementWoodland police challenge DHS's account of the Antonio Moreida collision
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. senator from California

Condemned

Response to this claim

Trump accepts attacks on Los Angeles and San Diego as a cost of the Iran war: "if it means attacks on two major American cities in the process, he is not troubled by the cost."

“And if it means attacks on two major American cities in the process, he is not troubled by the cost.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Adam Schiff's post on Trump's Los Angeles and San Diego remark · Adam SchiffOriginal post
Why we used this label

The reference point is whether Trump's remark meant Iranian attacks on Los Angeles and San Diego would be an acceptable price for the war, as critics read it, rather than that the war prevents a nuclear Iran from being able to attack them, as the White House says. Schiff reads the remark as Trump accepting attacks on two American cities as a cost of the war and criticizes him for it, which asserts the critics' reading. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, because the sentence begins with "if"; but the condition restates what Schiff takes Trump to have said, and the post's conclusion about Trump is not conditional. Evidence: Schiff's own post on X.

Read statementWhat did Trump mean when he said 'Let them take out Los Angeles' at a Nebraska rally?
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. senator from California and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Defended or excused

Statement summary

In his remarks to Smith, Sen. Adam Schiff said that despite his Republican colleagues' outrage over Smith requesting toll records because Rudy Giuliani and other co-conspirators were calling some members of Congress, the Barr Justice Department also sought toll records from members of Congress, which he said involved Democrats' records, with "not a peep" from those colleagues. He said that apparently did not violate the Speech or Debate Clause, and said members' toll records were requested as witnesses, not targets.

“for all of the outrage of my colleagues over your requesting toll records because Rudy Giuliani and other co-conspirators were calling some of the members of this body ... the Barr Justice Department sought toll records from members of Congress. Not a peep from my colleagues about that ... That apparently was okay. That apparently doesn't violate speech and debate. ... My colleagues talked about the stress on members of having their toll records requested as witnesses, not even targets.”
Watch the original video (opens in a new tab)Oversight of Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans and Related Matters (hearing video) · Senate Committee on the JudiciarySen. Adam Schiff's remarks to Smith, about 3:44:50 to 3:45:24 and 3:53:32 to 3:53:41 on the archived video timeline
Why we used this label

The case asks whether the collection of members' phone records and messages was proper. Schiff said the outrage over the toll-record requests was not matched when an earlier Justice Department sought Democratic members' toll records, and said members were witnesses rather than targets. That defends the collection as consistent with past practice, so we labeled it Defended or excused.

Read statementWere members of Congress's phone records and text messages properly obtained in the Arctic Frost and Jack Smith investigations?
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. Senator, California

Condemned

Statement summary

Adam Schiff voted yea on H.Con.Res. 89, a vote to direct the removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities with Iran.

“On the Concurrent Resolution H.Con.Res. 89: A concurrent resolution directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote 244: H.Con.Res. 89, Iran War Powers Resolution (rejected, 49-50)
Why we used this label

Voted to direct the removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities with Iran, a vote to end U.S. involvement absent congressional authorization.

Read statementDo they support the war in Iran?
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. senator

Mixed or conditional

Statement summary

Senator Adam Schiff co-signed a letter criticizing Flock's safeguards and asking how it would prevent misuse of its license-plate surveillance network.

“Flock claims to have the tools to protect the American people from further abuses of its platform. It must use them.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Senators Schiff and Wyden press Flock on surveillance safeguardsJoint letter paragraphs beginning We write seeking information and Flock claims to have the tools
Why we used this label

Schiff criticizes Flock's existing controls but asks the company to use protective measures. The letter does not call for removing every camera or banning ALPR networks.

Read statementShould Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. Senator from California, in a quote-post on his official X account (@SenAdamSchiff)

Condemned

Statement summary

In a quote-post of a journalist's photograph of Trump looking at a placard about the Kennedy Center, Schiff says that if the President cannot put his name on the Kennedy Center 'he is willing to close it or destroy it,' and that Trump cares more about branding institutions than preserving them. He adds that Congress allocated $257 million to repair the building and should insist the work be done properly.

“If the President can't put his name on it, he is willing to close it or destroy it. He cares more about branding our institutions than preserving them. Congress allocated $257 million to repair the Kennedy Center. It should insist that work be done properly.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Senator Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) on X, 17 Sep 2026: "If the President can't put his name on it, he is willing to close it or destroy it." · Adam SchiffFull post text; posted 2026-09-17 21:32:55 UTC (5:32 PM ET)
Why we used this label

Schiff's own words say that if the President cannot put his name on the building he is 'willing to close it or destroy it' and that he 'cares more about branding our institutions than preserving them', which criticizes making the building's fate depend on his name. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, because the post ends by urging Congress to insist that the $257 million repair work be done properly. That loses because the urging is a remedy aimed at the conduct Schiff criticizes, not a materially different position on the recognition condition.

Read statementShould Donald Trump link the Kennedy Center's renovation to recognition for his administration?
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: U.S. senator from California, questioning Patel at the Senate Judiciary Committee's FBI oversight hearing

Condemned

Response to this claim

Nine FBI special agents, staff operations specialists and intelligence analysts were fired in February 2026 because they worked on the investigation of Donald Trump's retention of classified documents, without cause, notice or a hearing, in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments.

“while this Congress is not going to investigate the wrongful termination of potentially hundreds of agents for working on properly predicated investigations. The next Congress will.”
Watch the original video (opens in a new tab)WATCH: Patel testifies FBI did not fire agents for working on investigations into Trump · PBS NewsHourVideo, 0:00-6:45 (Patel at 1:14 and 5:00-5:14; Schiff at 6:24-6:45)
Why we used this label

The reference point is the FBI's February 2026 firing of employees who worked on the investigation of Donald Trump's retention of classified documents. Schiff calls the firings the wrongful termination of agents for working on properly predicated investigations, a direct criticism of the firings.

Read statementNine fired FBI employees sue Kash Patel, alleging they were dismissed for working on the Trump classified-documents investigation
Portrait of Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Role at the time: United States senator from California

Condemned

Response to this claim

Yousef's remarks and the audience applause constituted anti-Muslim hate and warranted an apology and repudiation from the summit and its sponsors.

“I stand with our Muslim neighbors and strongly condemn this hateful bigotry.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Adam Schiff condemns anti-Muslim remarks at the Jewish American Summit
Why we used this label

The statement directly condemns the rhetoric as bigotry and expresses solidarity with Muslims.

Read statementMosab Hassan Yousef’s call for Muslims to leave the United States at the Jewish American Summit
Older statements

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.

Case

Do they support the war in Iran?

Relationship to this case: Speaker

An issue tracker recording where members of Congress and 2026 midterm candidates stand on the unauthorized Iran war, based on their votes on war-powers resolutions, campaign statements, and public remarks.

Iran WarU.S. PoliticsUpdated