The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday that "there is more than circumstantial evidence" of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

The remarkable disclosure by California Rep. Adam Schiff to MSNBC's Chuck Todd significantly heightened the rhetoric around the work of the committee, which is one of several entities investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin.

Schiff's remarks came days after he pointed to "circumstantial evidence of collusion" during a "Meet the Press" interview Sunday in which he defended the work of the House Intelligence Committee.

They also came shortly after the committee's top Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, sent shock waves through the nation's capital by telling reporters and the White House that he had seen intelligence reports confirming that communications by Trump associates – and possibly Trump himself – had been swept up in incidental surveillance activities during the presidential transition.

Nunes offered few details, and Schiff later called Nunes' remarks "beyond irregular," castigating the congressman for making public classified material that could potentially be within the scope of the committee's ongoing investigation.

Schiff's statements Wednesday on MSNBC had the feeling of a tit-for-tat, with the Democrat offering scant details in what seemed a deliberate echo of Nunes' vague statements hours earlier.