After noting that the story is now several years old, Bongino added: \u201cI\u2019m gonna be straight with you. I don\u2019t wanna move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice, officials in Congress, foreign governments and intel people fabricate a story, invent a story that could have caused and done serious long-term harm to international relations with a nuclear-powered foe,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a big freakin\u2019 deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listen to me \u2014 this is gonna be very important in the coming days,\u201d he went on, perhaps dropping a hint that he was about to be appointed to the FBI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not letting this go. I wanna find out what happened because it can never happen again. Not to a Democrat. Not a Republican. Not to a Libertarian. Not to any United States citizen,\u201d Bongino said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do not get to alter or try to change the course of electoral politics by fabricating a story hijacking the justice system then to give the patina of truth to a fake story,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou don\u2019t get to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do I bring that up now? Because who was the ringmaster of that circus? Yes, Adam Schiff, and no, I\u2019m not letting it go,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
WATCH:<\/p>\n
It should be noted that former President Joe Biden granted Schiff a pre-emptive pardon for his role on the Democrat-controlled Jan. 6 Commission, though he went on to call it \u201cunnecessary\u201d and \u201cunwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI continue to believe that the grant of pardons to a committee that undertook such important work to uphold the law was unnecessary, and because of the precedent it establishes, unwise,\u201d Schiff said in a statement. \u201cBut I certainly understand why\u00a0President Biden\u00a0<\/span>believed he needed to take this step in light of the persistent and baseless threats issued by Donald Trump and individuals who are now some of his law enforcement nominees.\u201d<\/p>\n Notably, however, Schiff did not reject the pardon outright.<\/p>\n Those \u201cfull and unconditional\u201d pardons cover any offenses tied to the \u201cactivities or subject matter\u201d of the committee and are not restricted to a specific time period, The Hill\u00a0reported<\/a>. But it isn\u2019t clear \u2014 yet \u2014 if the pre-emptive pardon covers any potential illegality that Schiff may have allegedly engaged in regarding his repeatedly false claims that Trump was a Russian asset or that he was acting on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n Rep.\u00a0Bennie Thompson\u00a0(D-Miss.) chaired the committee, and former Rep.\u00a0Liz Cheney\u00a0<\/span>(R-Wyo.) served as second-in-command as vice chair. Other members included then-Reps.\u00a0Adam Kinzinger\u00a0(R-Ill.), Elaine Luria (D-Va.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), current Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).<\/p>\n In a joint statement Monday, Thompson and Cheney said they were pardoned \u201cnot for breaking the law but for upholding it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese are indeed \u2018extraordinary circumstances\u2019 when public servants are pardoned to prevent false prosecution by the government for having worked faithfully as Members of Congress to expose the facts of a months-long criminal effort to override the will of the voters after the 2020 elections, including by inciting a violent insurrection to thwart the peaceful transfer of power,\u201d they said in the statement,\u00a0posted to the social media platform X<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n