Burbank Congressman Adam Schiff has said the inauguration of President Joe Biden marks "a new beginning."

Still, with the nation divided after a tumultuous election and facing a deadly pandemic, congress is now controlled by the Democrats and will have plenty of issues to juggle. Complicating matters: the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

Congressman Schiff led Trump's first trump impeachment and joined us to talk about these issues and others. 

What You Need To Know

  • Burbank Congressman Adam Schiff has said the inauguration of President Joe Biden marks “a new beginning”

  • But with the nation divided after a tumultuous election and a deadly pandemic, congress, now controlled by the Democrats, has plenty of issues to juggle

  • Congressman Schiff admits that he was not surprised at how Donald Trump questioned the election results

  • Schiff says he is confident with the way his colleagues are handling the impeachment trial strategy

Congressman Schiff admits that he was not surprised about how Donald Trump reacted to the election results.

"It was predictable that Donald Trump would challenge the election, he would claim it was rigged, he would lie about it, and he would motivate crowds to incitement and insurrection. That was all too predictable. It just adds to the tragedy because this could have been avoided had senators upheld their oath, given that the evidence was so powerful," said Schiff.  

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Donald Trump provoked the U.S. Capitol's storming and that he fed the mob lies. Congressman Schiff hopes that there is a change in this impeachment trial.

"Well, clearly, McConnell believes that Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses. That is no guarantee, though, as we saw on the last trial, that he will vote to convict. But, I hope the result will be different this time because we have seen the pattern of this president. And, just as we predicted the last trial, we can expect him to cheat again if he is permitted to run again. We can expect in four years, he will lie, he will cheat, and incite all over again," added Schiff.

Despite a majority of Senate Republicans voting that impeaching Trump now that he is out of office is unconstitutional, Congressman Schiff says he is confident in the impeachment trial strategy.

"My colleagues will be ready to go whenever they are called upon to put on that case. So much of it is public; so much of it can be made through demonstration of the video of the president's incitement of that rally, the mob that descended on the Capitol, the recording of the president trying to badger the Georgia Secretary of State into helping him cheat and overturn the state's results. So much of that evidence is very public and graphic. But, the senators are witnesses themselves to the damage and destruction. So, I am confident that the team will make the right judgment about the length and breadth of evidence they put on," said Schiff.

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During his inauguration speech, President Biden spoke about bipartisanship and about the need to work together.

"I think there has always been an appetite for the congress, the government to always be productive and functional. And, I think the lowest hanging fruit is coming together to defeat the virus. So, providing the resources to ramp up vaccines, manufacturing, distribution, testing, and tracing to make sure the federal government is a good partner with the states. I think there is lots of room for bipartisan agreement and resources to help speed the vaccination to the public. After all, we all want to see schools and businesses reopen, our economy and lives go back to normal. And that really hinges on following science, using best practices, having a thoughtful plan to administer the vaccine, and there is lots of room for us to work together on that," said Schiff.