Between my day job and three hours on the radio, I have been mostly out of touch today. But this, from Elizabeth Vaughn at Red State, shocked me: “Adam Schiff Has Crossed a Line: He’s Obtained Phone Records of Devin Nunes, Nunes’ Aide, Rudy Giuliani and John Solomon.”

The most stunning aspect of the report, to me anyway, was the inclusion of telephone records of House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, Nunes’ aide David Harvey, President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and investigative reporter John Solomon. Schiff refused to say how he was able to obtain these records.

I don’t understand that. Presumably such records were obtained through legal process, as opposed to computer hacking or bribery of telephone company employees. Offhand, however, I don’t know what the legal basis would be for obtaining these phone records, and Schiff’s refusal to comment does not inspire confidence. I also don’t understand how Schiff could have obtained these records–legally–without the knowledge of the ranking member of his committee, Devin Nunes.

John Solomon has been one of the best reporters on the subjects at issue here, and spying on his phone records reminds me of when some person or organization intruded into Sharyl Attkisson’s home computer at a time when her reporting was inconvenient for the Obama administration.

The mainstream media is abuzz with stories about Nunes communication with “Rudy Giuliani during key aspects of his Ukraine pressure campaign.” Nunes was in touch with John Solomon around the times he published major articles. And on and on. The telephone records don’t include the actual conversations. They identify who was calling whom and how long they spoke. Schiff has crossed the line of decency with this move. Once again, he has abused his power. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton tweeted that obtaining these records is a remarkable abuse of President Trump’s constitutional rights. I would argue that it’s an abuse of the constitutional rights of all of the above. These are KGB tactics. Well, fair is fair. Republicans should obtain Schiff’s phone records, those of the so-called whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella, and the colleague with whom he had a “bro-like” relationship, you know, Sean Misko, the one Schiff hired as an aide the day after the whistleblower’s complaint was submitted. The repellent Adam Schiff has managed to reach a new level of depravity.

I agree with all of the above, based on facts as currently known, except that I don’t think Schiff’s depravity is unprecedented. I think we saw previews of it during the Obama administration.

SCOTT adds: I don’t think the RedState story on which John relies gets the facts straight. I have tried to take a closer look at whose phone records Schiff obtained here.