WASHINGTON — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan kept the war between Sen. Adam Schiff and FBI Director Kash Patel going strong Wednesday, bringing up a long-simmering allegation that Schiff leaked classified information that could hurt President Donald Trump.

Schiff emphatically denied the claim.

Jordan, R-Ohio, opened a hearing called to assess Patel’s performance by saying an unnamed Democratic House Intelligence Committee staff member reported they were pressured to leak the information during Trump’s first term.

Schiff, now a senator but then a House member, chaired the House Intelligence Committee from 2019 to 2023 and was its top Democrat in the four prior years.

“Why would the head of that committee, the chairman of that committee, (who was) supposed to be guarding our secrets, be encouraging the leaking of classified information?” Jordan asked.

“The whistleblower told us that as well,” he said. “The false information was going to be used to indict President Trump.”

Schiff quickly fired back.

“Jim Jordan and Kash Patel’s smear against Senator Schiff is absolutely and categorically false, and is just the latest in a series of defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal,” his office said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee.

They added, “These baseless smears are based on allegations that were found to be not reliable, not credible, and unsubstantiated from a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017, including for mistreatment of staff and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the committee.”

Schiff and Trump

Patel sat silently listening to Jordan and did not comment immediately. He later said there was an “ongoing investigation” of the matter.

The director was in his second day of hearings about his work at the FBI. Schiff and Patel have clashed for years; Patel was a Republican staff member on the committee during part of the time Schiff was a leader there.

Tuesday, the two clashed bitterly at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Schiff grilled Patel on policies relating to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Patel got rattled and told Schiff he was a “political buffoon,” and a liar.

Schiff was not present Wednesday. But in his statement, he said, “Even Trump’s own Justice Department and an independent inspector general found this individual to not be credible.”

The charge that Schiff leaked classified information has been simmering for years. Patel gave it new public life last month when he declassified notes from the whistleblower and gave them to Congress.

“Now Congress can see how classified info was leaked to shape political narratives — and decide if our institutions were weaponized against the American people,” Patel tweeted at the time.

CNN has reported that during Trump’s first term, federal prosecutors looked into the allegations and raised questions about the source’s credibility.

But this current Justice Department, with prodding from Trump, is looking at the charges, and Jordan Wednesday was pleased, praising Patel for releasing the notes.

Jordan also cited former FBI Director James Comey, saying he too leaked confidential information aimed at hurting Trump.

“What was Comey’s motive? Same as the senator from California,” Jordan said. “Sabotage and undermine Trump’s first term.”

Russia and impeachment

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-run House six years ago, with Schiff as the leader of the effort. Trump was acquitted by the Senate. Schiff was also a member of the special House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

In 2023, the House, then run by Republicans, took the extraordinary step of censuring Schiff.

“For years, Representative Schiff has spread false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia,” and “behaved dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions,” the censure resolution said.

In an interview in November, The Bee read Schiff a statement he made in 2017 to CNN about Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign.

“We do know this: The Russians offered help. The campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help and the president made full use of that help. That is pretty damning, whether it is proof beyond a reasonable doubt or not.”

Did he still stand by that statement, he was asked? “Absolutely,” Schiff said.

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