Adam Schiff says Intelligence Committee may conduct 'Zoom hearings' during coronavirus pandemic
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., says he is considering using the teleconferencing software Zoom to hold hearings into foreign election interference and other key issues, including the firing of intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson, while social distancing restrictions remain in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think we can and I think that we will, but they may take the form of a virtual hearing — where we will do essentially a Zoom hearing,” said Schiff in an interview on the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery” when asked how his panel will conduct oversight hearings in the current environment.
“We’ll have witnesses testify, people will be able to watch the hearings, members will be able to ask questions. We’re trying to work our way through some of the security issues.”
Schiff’s comments are the latest indication of how the pandemic is disrupting the normal functioning of government, causing lawmakers to adjust to a world where they can’t congregate in public or question witnesses in person in order to conduct routine oversight.
Those issues are especially acute for Schiff’s Intelligence Committee, which regularly receives voluminous classified reports and briefings — material that is far too sensitive to discuss over virtual video software platforms like Zoom. The issue has become even more problematic in light of recent reports that, even while Zoom software has skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic crisis, the FBI and others have warned about security breaches that permit outsiders to break into Zoom sessions.
Asked if the Intelligence Committee could conduct closed-door Zoom sessions where classified information is discussed, Schiff said: “At this point, I don’t think that’s going to be possible. Whatever hearings we do will have to be open-session hearings.
“In terms of classified information or highly sensitive information that’s not classified, I don’t see in the near future working out the technological risk associated with that. So I don’t think that’s going to be practical.”
Download or subscribe on iTunes: “Skullduggery” from Yahoo News
Schiff made clear that the committee has got a lot on its plate. He wants to dig further into the ongoing threat of foreign election interference and last Friday night’s sacking of Atkinson — the intelligence community inspector general who last summer first alerted the Intelligence Committee to President Trump’s pressure on the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden.
Schiff has also begun investigations into what the intelligence community knew about the coronavirus — and what was shared with the administration and Congress.
But, he revealed during the “Skullduggery” interview, he is doing so under highly constrained conditions. He is still getting sensitive briefings either on classified telephone hookups or by physically going into a committee SCIF (sensitive compartmented information facility), a highly secure room where classified information can be reviewed and discussed.
However, there are indisputable challenges. “Our committee is in a uniquely difficult position to do telework,” he said.
Asked if he can practice social distancing in a SCIF, Schiff said: “You can do your best.”
“When I’ve gone into the SCIF recently, I’ve been behind my desk and one staff is in one doorway and another staff is in another doorway — and if anybody sneezes, we all run.”
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