Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

WATCH: Lee Zeldin Takes On Adam Schiff For ‘Fairy Tale Quid Pro Quo’

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) is emerging as one of Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) harshest critics as the latter pursues an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. it’s not a storybook kind. Though fairy tales have been invoked.

On Tuesday at the Capitol, Zeldin accused Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, of forwarding a “Fairy tale quid pro quo charge” between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zeldin was responding to a question from reporters about the Schiff not releasing a transcript from a House hearing with Former United States Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker that occurred last Thursday. Zeldin argued that the transcript is being kept from the public because it would “obliterate” the quid pro quo allegation.

“Adam Schiff is misleading you and you’re playing along with it,” Zeldin told reporters. “When Adam Schiff said for example that President Trump was asking President Zelensky to manufacture dirt on the Bidens, you know what Ambassador Volker testified to? That was absolutely untrue. You know what else Adam Schiff has been saying to you and the American public that was not true? That he had no contact with the whistle-blower.”

Schiff is expected to face censure from House Republicans for both his summary of the transcript and his alleged contact with the whistle-blower, who reached out to an aide of Schiff’s prior to filing his complaint.

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture fellow. He can be reached at [email protected].

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.