Adam Schiff Biography

Adam Schiff is a United States Congressman from California, a Democrat who became a familiar face during the televised impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump‘s alleged abuse of office.

A graduate of Stanford (1982) and Harvard Law (1985), Schiff got his professional start as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles in the early 1980s.

Schiff earned his first headlines there when he led the successful prosecution of FBI agent Richard W. Miller, who had been accused of trying to sell government secrets to Russians.

Schiff served in the California State Senate from 1996 until 2001, when he was sworn in as the representative of California’s 27th Congressional District. Because of district changes, Schiff has also represented the 29th District (2003-2013) and the 28th District (2013-present).

In the U.S. Congress, Schiff is known for his roles on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Intelligence Committee. At the beginning of the 116th Congress, in 2019, Schiff was named Chair of the House Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select).

A vocal critic of Donald Trump, Schiff’s Intelligence Committee was chosen by House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2019 to lead an inquiry focused on a whistleblower complaint that the president had tried to extort the president of Ukraine.