In light of California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s death recently, there’s been a lot of speculation swirling around on who might replace her. Included in the list of contenders is California Democrat Representative Adam Schiff, who currently appears to be the frontrunner.
Although he may have been in the media limelight for years pushing false theories against former President Donald Trump leading to his first impeachment, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Schiff and his questionable record as a politician.
According to a survey conducted by the University of California Berkeley, likely voters favored Representative Katie Porter over Adam Schiff at 17% vs 20%. However, many respondents were still unsure which choice they preferred leaving one third undecided.
While sixteen people have declared interest in running for the position so far, it appears that Schiff’s past will be what decides if he can make it or not.
According to an analysis done by Politico on Schiff’s earmarking practices during 2001-2007 while in office as representative revealed that $10 million was allocated towards defense contractors who had donated to his campaigns previously.
These companies included Eureka Aerospace involved in development of military technology aimed at intercepting vehicles evading checkpoints and Tanner Research Inc researching explosives detection which killed many US military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He also allocated funds towards Orbits Lightwave Inc (contractor for NASA) and Superprotonic (materials supplier to US Army). The CEOs of these companies contributed tens of thousands dollars from 2006 -2020 to Schiff’s campaign raising questions about pay-to-play politics.
As Steve Ellis from Taxpayers of Common Sense commented “If you’re getting a campaign contribution and getting your earmark for that same company or for a client of that lobbyist, it has that perception.”
In June, House voted censured Rep. Adam Schiff due to allegations against President Trump regarding ties with Russia, which further strengthened efforts from right wing lawmakers calling out such acts without buy-in from GOP leadership.
