Trump Says Schiff Helped Write Complaint

“I think it’s a scandal that he knew before,” Trump said Wednesday at a White House news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. “I’d go a step further -- I think he probably helped write it.”

He added: “That’s a big story. He knew long before and he helped write it, too.”

Trump’s comment came after the New York Times reported that Schiff got an early account of what became the whistle-blower complaint that alleges Trump pressured his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Patrick Boland, a spokesman for Schiff, said the committee did not review or receive the complaint in advance. “Like other whistle-blowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled Committees, the whistle-blower contacted the Committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the Intelligence Community,'’ Boland said.