White House reacts to Dem whistleblower’s ‘bombshell’ claim Schiff leaked to hit Trump

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the recent release of Democratic whistleblower testimony claiming Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff approved leaking classified information in order to discredit President Donald Trump during the Russiagate probe a "bombshell" Tuesday afternoon. 

"This is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report," Leavitt said at a Tuesday White House press briefing. "Hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such."

"I understand Kash Patel, last night, declassified a 302 FBI document showing that a whistleblower, who is a Democrat, a career intelligence officer who worked for Democrats on the House Intel Committee for more than a decade, repeatedly warned the FBI in 2017 that then-Rep. Adam Schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear then President Donald Trump over the Russiagate scandal," she added. 

Schiff served in the U.S. House representing California for decades before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024. 

Trump and Schiff have long been political foes, which was underscored during Trump's first administration when Schiff served as the lead House manager during the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020, and when Schiff repeatedly promoted claims that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia

TRUMP-FOE ADAM SCHIFF DISMISSES TULSI GABBARD'S DECLASSIFIED RUSSIA COLLUSION INTELLIGENCE AS 'DISHONEST'

On Monday evening, reports spread that a whistleblower who reportedly worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years told the FBI in 2017 that the Democrat lawmaker green-lit leaking classified information on Trump that allegedly "would be used to indict President TRUMP," according to the report. 

"In this meeting, SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to indict President TRUMP."

The whistleblower "stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information," the report added.

KAROLINE LEAVITT EXCORIATES MEDIA FOR PERPETUATING 'COMPLETE SCAM' OF RUSSIA HOAX

Leavitt continued Tuesday by reading a quote from FBI Director Kash Patel that "for years certain officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political narratives."

"It was all done with one purpose: to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain," Leavitt said, quoting Patel. "Those abuses eroded public trust in our institutions. The FBI will now lead the charge with our partners at DOJ, and Congress will have the chance to uncover how political power may have been weaponized and to restore accountability." 

TRUMP INVOKES RUSSIA COLLUSION HOAX WHILE CALLING FOR LONGTIME FOE SCHIFF TO FACE JAIL TIME

Leavitt added, when asked if Trump plans to investigate Schiff over the matter, doubled down that Trump "has already said he wants to see Adam Schiff held accountable for the countless lies he told the American people in relation to the Russiagate scandal."

Schiff's office hit back against the report in comment to Fox Digital Tuesday afternoon, claiming it was a "smear" that is "absolutely and categorically false."

"Kash Patel’s latest smear against Senator Schiff is absolutely and categorically false, and is just the latest in a series of defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal," a spokesperson for Schiff said. 

"These baseless smears are based on allegations that were found to be not reliable, not credible, and unsubstantiated from a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017, including for harassment and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the Committee," the spokesperson continued. "Even Trump’s own Justice Department and an independent inspector general found this individual to not be credible, have "little support for their contentions" and was of "unknown reliability," and concluded that his accusations against Members of Congress and congressional staff "were not ultimately substantiated.'" 

Schiff is also currently facing a criminal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud stretching back to the early 2000s — a case where he has denied wrongdoing. 

The release of the whistleblower's account follows Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard bombshell claims in July that Obama-era officials "manufactured and politicized intelligence" to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Gabbard released unclassified documents in July that reportedly show "overwhelming evidence" that then–President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe after Trump's election win against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Judges blocking Trump’s executive orders are acting ‘erroneously,’ White House says

The judicial branch has been behaving "erroneously," according to White House press secretary, after several judges have blocked various executive orders from President Donald Trump. 

"I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Wednesday news briefing. "We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench."

On Saturday, Judge James Boasberg with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants allegedly part of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing.

However, flights carrying the migrants continued to El Salvador, and Leavitt said Sunday the order had "no lawful basis" since Boasberg issued it after the flights departed from U.S. airspace.

THESE ARE THE JUDGES GOING TOE TO TOE AGAINST TRUMP'S AGENDA 

Meanwhile, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment in a social media post Tuesday, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement condemning Trump’s remarks. 

Specifically, Roberts said that "it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision" for more than two centuries." 

In response, Leavitt said Wednesday that the Supreme Court needs to "reign in" judges who are behaving as "partisan activists" and are "undermining" the judicial branch, while also asserting that Trump does respect Robert. 

Efforts to oust Boasberg have also been launched in Congress. For example, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, unveiled an impeachment resolution against Boasberg Tuesday, claiming that Boasberg was "guilty of high crimes" in a post on social media. 

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS JUDGE FOR ATTEMPTING TO HALT DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO EL SALVADOR: ‘NO LAWFUL BASIS’

"It's incredibly apparent that there is a concerted effort by the far left to judge shop, to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this president's agenda," Leavitt said. "We will not allow that to happen." 

Leavitt said that while flights to deport illegal immigrants to El Salvador are currently not scheduled, the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign will continue as litigation continues on this case. 

"We don't have any flights planned specifically, but we will continue with the mass deportations," Leavitt said. "And I would just like to point out that the judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the President doesn't have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists…That is an egregious abuse of the bench." 

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.