Rep, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) emphasized that colleagues on both sides of the aisle have recently questioned President Donald Trump’s stability. | AP Photo Schiff: Jury’s out on Trump’s mental stability

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that he and his colleagues are increasingly concerned about President Donald Trump’s mental fitness.

“There are some serious issues,” Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that “the pressures of the job may only get worse.”


The California lawmaker’s comments came after he was asked by host Jake Tapper to respond to Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier’s call Tuesday to invoke the 25th Amendment, which empowers the vice president and Cabinet to remove a president who is incapable of serving. That remedy, Schiff noted, was primarily envisioned for a president who has “some kind of physical incapacitation or serious mental illness, a breakdown.”

“We’re still far from concluding that that’s the case, even though we find, many of us, his conduct anathema,” Schiff said. He added, “I don’t think we’re at a point of thinking about the 25th Amendment.”

The 25th Amendment was enacted in 1967, a few years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led some to worry that a future president could be grievously wounded in an assassination attempt and that there would be no way to replace him.

Schiff’s comments came at a time that he and his colleagues on the intelligence committee are overseeing a wide-ranging probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election — and whether Trump’s campaign associates or allies cooperated with the Russian effort.

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Schiff emphasized that colleagues on both sides of the aisle have recently questioned Trump’s stability, most notably Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who said Thursday that Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful.”

“I certainly think that there’s an issue with the president’s capability,” Schiff said, describing “some aspect of his character” that’s “incapable of introspection.” “I think it’s a question people are asking.”

