Washington (CNN) House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Thursday said Rudy Giuliani's involvement in the escalating Ukraine controversy may have broken the law but doesn't think the Justice Department will investigate him.

When asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" if he believed Giuliani was potentially criminally liable, Schiff said that "If Mr. Giuliani was involved in a scheme to coerce a foreign government into giving dirt, manufacturing dirt, on President Trump's political opponent, then yes, that certainly can violate the law -- violate the criminal laws."

"Do I have any confidence, hope or what not, that the Justice Department would be willing to investigate?" he added. "No."

The Justice Department, Schiff said, "made it clear they're not going to investigate this and they don't want anyone else to. The fact that they would so cavalierly dismiss this credible evidence and say it is not even worthy of us looking into is yet another affirmation that Attorney General Bill Barr believes that he exists to serve the will and interest of the President, not the presidency, and that's exactly what he's doing."

Schiff's comments come the same day acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified before the Intelligence Committee about his handling of a whistleblower complaint that has set off a politically explosive week in Washington.

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