This morning, Congressman Jason Smith (R-Mo) spoke to St. Louis radio host Marc Cox and shared his thoughts on the impeachment proceedings thus far. Smith, a lawyer and small businessman who has represented Missouri’s 8th Congressional District since 2013, pulled no punches in giving his assessment.  Particularly when it comes to impeachment ring leader Adam Schiff.

“You know, I feel the Republicans on the Intel Committee did a great job and they basically sliced and diced the sham of a process that Adam Schiff has made this whole impeachment scam, because that’s clearly what it is. What you had was their star two witnesses that they marched out yesterday who have never met, spoken to, or talked with the President, or his Chief of Staff, or Rudy Giuliani, his attorney. All that they were testifying to is what they heard someone else say that they heard from someone else that they heard something on the phone call. So, this multiple generations of hearsay which is absolutely bogus and ridiculous. But, this whole process, this is three years now that they’ve been trying to impeach the President. They’ve had an impeachment every year that the President has been in office, and now they’re just trying something else.”

When asked about Schiff’s denial that he met with the whistleblower or knows who the whistleblower is, Smith had this to say:

“His employee was representing him and so they met and coached with the whistleblower. If this is not true, then he should grant the Republicans — one of the nine Republican witness requests is to have the whistleblower testify — and if they’re worried bout confidentiality, they can do it much like they’ve done in the past impeachment inquiries, where that…they’re able to come with complete privacy, where…that they would not be disclosed of who they were — they can do that.  So, he’s just scared to have the whistleblower there. Anytime my staff meets with someone, they are representing me, they are a reflection of me, and whatever happens there affects me.

Adam Schiff is a complete liar. And for me to say that for a colleague that I serve with is very extreme. That’s why I support him being censured. I mean, the guy should be removed as the Intelligence Chairman. He started out in the last public hearing completely falsifying the transcript of the President’s conversation with the Ukrainian President. He’s a phony, he’s a fake, and he’s a liar. He started with the Mueller Report and he’s doing it now. He’s a disgrace to all members of Congress.  (emphasis added.)

The discussion then turned scheduling and the anticipated timeline of the impeachment vote.

“They’re going to jam anything through, but let’s think about this:  Government funding ends November 21st. I serve on the Ways and Means Committee. We weren’t able to have a hearing yesterday because they were having this impeachment scam in our committee room. They are focused on removing the President through impeachment rather than delivering for the American people — funding government, funding our military, providing a National Defense Authorization. We’ve done this every year for 50 years but we have not done it right now, because Pelosi has concentrated more on subpoenas than they are on bills….

November 21st is when funding expires, and they’re not even moving appropriations – they’re issuing subpoenas. I mean, they’ve passed, they’ve issued more subpoenas than what they’ve put bills on the President’s desk this Congress. It’s unacceptable. They’ve not paid attention to lowering prescription drug costs, they’re not paying attention to securing our borders, they’re not funding our military. And you’re looking at November 21st is when government funding lapses.

I’d say the Congressman is more than a little irked with the present state of affairs. (And who can blame him?)

Congressman Smith also took to Twitter yesterday to weigh in on the impeachment proceedings:

.@RepAdamSchiff changes the rules whenever they don’t fit his predetermined verdict of #impeachment. The American people can now see for themselves the sham process he has been leading for months. https://t.co/WOklB2ZAgP

— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) November 13, 2019

And, in case there’s any doubt as to his views on Adam Schiff’s handling of the hearings:

Wait?! These are our two star witnesses and neither one of them have even spoken with President Trump? #ImpeachmentHearings https://t.co/Mb7nUJuCDi

— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) November 13, 2019