Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Culture

Forward 50 | Adam Schiff: Impeacher-in-Chief (No. 1)

Until the Trump era, Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, was a respected specialist in intelligence and foreign affairs, and frequent journalistic source, but not a household name nationally. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi handed Schiff, 59, the baton to conduct the impeachment inquiry as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, that all changed. Schiff was relentlessly attacked by Trump — who calls him “shifty Schiff,” a moniker rooted in anti-Semitic stereotype — and other Republicans as he methodically brought witnesses to testify about the alleged quid pro quo with Ukraine. The Schiff that emerged from the hearings was a more emotional and at times angry politician than most had seen before. He does not appear to have taken much joy in doing his work, which he recently described on ABC News’s “This Week” as a “constitutional duty.”

Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

Breakfast: Avocado toast — what would you expect, I’m a Californian.

What’s the last thing you listened to on your phone? A mix on Spotify: Kings of Leon, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, Billy Joel

Earliest Jewish memory: High holidays with my family in Boston, breaking the fast with my grandparents, my 5-foot Uncle Louie with the fedora, my great grandmothers, their great matzoh ball soup and noodle pudding.

2019 memory: The passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution on the House Floor. I worked for 19 years to make that happen and I’m so thrilled for my constituents and Armenians around the world.

What is your favorite thing about being Jewish? The culture, the learning, the desire to do tikkun olam. The ethics, the history, the spiritual commitment to self reflection and improving the lot of others.

What app can you not live without? Spotify. I love music. After that, Audible. I travel so much it’s nice to be able to listen to books along the way.

Weekend ritual: Dinner and a movie with my wife. Hollywood is in my district; have to give them the business!

Follow Adam Schiff on Twitter @RepAdamSchiff

Read our culture writer’s take on Trump’s belittling “Shifty Schiff” nickname for Adam Schiff.

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.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

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.