Schiff Blames Trump for ‘Downplaying the Significance’ of the Virus, Calls for 9/11-Style Commission

It was announced yesterday that House Rep Adam Schiff was “working on a bill” so that “once we’ve recovered, we need a nonpartisan commission to review our response and how we can better prepare for the next pandemic.”

Schiff took to MSNBC last night to discuss the plan with host Lawrence O’Donnell and said that the President was “downplaying the significance” of the virus and that the “disbanding of the pandemic response team” was a “profound mistake”.

He tweeted out a video of the interview this morning and along with that said in the Tweet that “we’re in the eye of the storm now, but we will get through this.” He then reiterated the “need to review our Coronavirus response in a nonpartisan fashion” and said he was “working on a bill to establish a 9/11-style commission to do so.”

We’re in the eye of the storm now, but we will get through this. And when we do, we’ll need to review our Coronavirus response in a nonpartisan fashion to ensure we’re better prepared for the next pandemic. I’m working on a bill to establish a 9/11-style commission to do so.

We're in the eye of the storm now, but we will get through this.

And when we do, we'll need to review our Coronavirus response in a nonpartisan fashion to ensure we're better prepared for the next pandemic.

I'm working on a bill to establish a 9/11-style commission to do so: pic.twitter.com/2CvokGyX8Y

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 2, 2020

He claimed that the impeachment trial had nothing to do with the delay and that the President should “stop making excuses” and that he had plenty of time to “golf” and do “other things he likes to do”.

Schiff also spoke with the Washington Post yesterday, saying, “We will need to delay the work of the commission until the crisis has abated to ensure that it does not interfere with the agencies that are leading the response. But that should not prevent us from beginning to identify where we got it wrong and how we can be prepared for the next pandemic.”

After Pearl Harbor and 9/11, we looked at what went wrong to learn from our mistakes. Once we’ve recovered, we need a nonpartisan commission to review our response and how we can better prepare for the next pandemic. I’m working on a bill to do that.

After Pearl Harbor and 9/11, we looked at what went wrong to learn from our mistakes.

Once we've recovered, we need a nonpartisan commission to review our response and how we can better prepare for the next pandemic.

I’m working on a bill to do that.https://t.co/uqO3BwVldN

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) April 1, 2020