The House Intelligence Committee chair became a liberal icon and villain to conservatives during the first impeachment probe of then-President Donald Trump, although Schiff claims in the book that, early in his presidency, Trump praised the man who later became his nemesis.
“You know, you do a good job,” Trump reportedly told Schiff in the Oval Office in 2017.
The lead impeachment manager writes for a vengeful partisan audience, and walks readers through his reactions to the most important events of the Trump administration.
The 528-page book reportedly condemns the Republican Party under Trump as an “antidemocratic cult organized around the former president.”
The congressman acknowledges some mistakes, like when his staff was in fact contacted by a Ukraine whistleblower in 2019 — who alleged that Trump solicited help from Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. Once the complaint went public, Schiff lied to MSNBC and said his committee had not spoken with said whistleblower.
The 61-year-old also writes disparagingly about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, as well as Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz, Trey Gowdy, and Devin Nunes.
Perhaps most notably, the California Democrat bemoaned Robert Mueller’s lack of cognitive acuity.
Although Schiff requested that the former special counsel proceed with his infamous testimony, he found it “heartbreaking” when Mueller struggled to answer basic questions.
“Had I known how much he had changed, I would not have pursued his testimony with such vigor — in fact, I would not have pursued it at all,” Schiff wrote.
As Mueller testified before the Judiciary Committee, the 11-term congressman explained that he revamped his strategy for Mueller’s second session, simplifying questions to accommodate the now-77-year-old’s shortcomings.
“No questions calling for a narrative answer,” Schiff told his colleagues at the time. “No multipart questions. If you think your question may be too long, it is.”
To the undoubted glee of his progressive readers, Schiff offers a running commentary on the impeachment proceedings, praising the witnesses.
In essence, all the juicy details about Schiff’s interactions with Republicans, the former president’s aides, and even Trump himself are recounted in Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could.
It’s all quite rich, too, when one book jacket review comes from conspiracy theorist Stacey Abrams, who opined, “American democracy faced a near-death experience, Adam Schiff…delivers a much-needed warning about the threats facing America from within and an urgent how-to guide for preserving our nation.”
My book, Midnight in Washington, comes out in just a few days – October 12.
Only a handful of people have had a chance to read it so far, and the words from @staceyabrams, @jmeacham, @BeschlossDC, and @TimothyDSnyder mean so much.
I have nothing but respect for their work. pic.twitter.com/D0OS0rlTXj
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) October 7, 2021