Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that he expects to release a memo this week about surveillance and the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Schiff, D-Burbank, crafted the document as a response to one written by Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, that alleged that federal agents improperly obtained a warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page as part of its Russian investigation. While President Trump ordered the release of the Nunes memo over the objections of some in law enforcement and intelligence, he blocked the release of the Schiff response because he said it contained classified material.

“We are negotiating with the FBI, and I think we are almost done,” Schiff said Tuesday night during an onstage interview by former East Bay Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

Before his appearance, Schiff told The Chronicle’s “It’s All Political” podcast that “there are certain things that could be publicly released, should be publicly released,” that won’t appear in the memo. “But there will be more than enough that will be released to the public that will show that the FBI was acting in good faith, that it had a good case to make, and probable cause to make.”

Before Trump took office, Schiff spent 16 years in Congress largely out of the public spotlight. But as has been the case over the past year when he appears before left-leaning audiences, Schiff was cheered like a wonky rock star Tuesday by the standing-room-only audience at the Marines Memorial Theater — the 550 seats sold out two hours after they went on sale, according to organizers.

The graduate from Monte Vista High School in Danville has become a favorite of the anti-Trump resistance for his Sgt. Joe Friday, just-the-facts-ma’am prosecutorial focus on the Russian meddling investigation — combined with a dry-humored needling of the administration.

When Tauscher relayed an audience question if he wanted to run for president, Schiff said, “No.”

“Think about it, please!” someone shouted from the audience.

“Right now, I’m just trying to defend myself from presidential tweets,” Schiff responded.

Indeed, the president has taken notice of Schiff’s high profile — he is a regular on cable news shows — and has been increasingly attacking the congressman on Twitter. The other day, Trump called him “liddle’ Adam Schiff, the leakin’ monster of no control” — a jab that Schiff said Tuesday made him sound like “an incontinent Frankenstein.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” the 5-foot-10 Schiff said dryly as he walked onstage Tuesday. “He doesn’t look that little.”

But beneath his volley of jabs with Trump, Schiff has a lot of concerns that the U.S. isn’t prepared to stop the Russians from continuing to meddle with this year’s midterm elections.

The U.S. needs to harden its cyberdefenses, create a paper trail for all voting machines as a backup, and encourage the federal government and social media companies to share information quickly if they notice more Russian interference attempts, Schiff said.

And, he said Trump needs to lead on the issue instead of considering it a threat to the legitimacy of his presidency. Schiff noted that the president hasn’t convened a single Cabinet-level meeting to focus on Russian meddling and has yet to approve sanctions against Russia that were overwhelmingly approved by Congress.

He told The Chronicle that it isn’t too late for the nation to protect itself from interference in this year’s elections. But, Schiff said, “we won’t have time to do it perfectly.”

While he is a leading force in the Russian investigation, he’s frustrated by some of his fellow Democrats who have called for Trump’s impeachment. That includes San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer, who has gathered millions of names on an online petition calling for impeachment.

“I don’t think it’s helpful for anyone to be pushing impeachment before the investigation is finished,” Schiff told The Chronicle Tuesday. While there is a legal standard for impeachment, he said, there “also a political standard. Can you make the case for impeachment in districts around the country?”

“That case will be more difficult to make if it looks like this is where we wanted to go all along,” Schiff said.

What is helpful, he said, is public pressure. Schiff said his constituents often ask him what they could do to push back against the administration. Instead of trying to protest against every injustice they feel coming from Washington, Schiff encouraged people to focus on one issue that they’re passionate about, whether it is immigration or voting rights or the environment.

“There is a role for every one of us,” Schiff said.

That includes the high school students who are planning a nationwide walkout to protest congressional inaction on gun control measures — a concern heightened after the recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

“I say go for it,” Schiff said.

Meanwhile, Schiff said he will hope the president focuses on just one nickname for him. In addition to “liddle” and “leaker,” Trump has also called him “sleazy.”

“The basic rule of nicknames is you stick to one,” Schiff told The Chronicle. “You’d think the president would know this. He’s the master of the nickname. With a name like Schiff, you could do a lot better. It’s a real missed opportunity. Again. I just have to think the president is off his game.”