WASHINGTON – Sen. Adam Schiff, a longtime political adversary of President Donald Trump, is bracing for continued legal battles and "baseless smears" from the administration by setting up a legal defense fund.

Trump has called Schiff “shifty” and a “scam artist” who should be arrested for treason after leading the first impeachment during the president’s first term. The Justice Department is investigating potential mortgage fraud, which Schiff has denied.

Schiff created a tax-exempt fund Aug. 15 called the “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund.” It’s not clear how much the fund raised initially.

“It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable," said Marisol Samayoa, a Schiff spokesperson. "This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job."

Schiff’s political and legal battles with Trump go back years.

As a House member, the former federal prosecutor led the first impeachment against Trump over his dealings with Ukraine during his first term. Schiff also served on the committee that investigated the Capitol attack Jan. 6, 2021.

After winning a Senate seat in 2024, Schiff remains critical of Trump. For example, he asked the Federal Communications Commission on Aug. 15 whether Trump sought commitments for media coverage in exchange for approving the merger of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, with Skydance Media.

The approval came after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a $20 billion lawsuit from Trump that alleged CBS News deceptively edited a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign against Trump.

Trump has pushed for investigations of Schiff since returning to the White House this year.

In July, Trump said on social media that federal authorities “concluded that Adam Schiff has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud.” The accusation is that Schiff claimed a primary residence in Maryland to get a cheaper mortgage interest rate in addition to his California residence required to serve in Congress.

Trump alleged the fraud began when Schiff refinanced his Maryland home in 2009 until his designated the home his second residence in 2020.

“I have always suspected Shifty Adam Schiff was a scam artist,” Trump said on social media.

Schiff has denied wrongdoing and called the mortgage investigation “a bit of a letdown” after the more serious allegations Trump leveled at him. Schiff consulted with House counsel and mortgage lenders in declaring the Maryland home occupied in 2003 a "primary residence," rather than a vacation or investment property, in addition to his California residence, according to a source familiar with the declaration.

“And this baseless attempt at political retribution won’t stop me from holding him accountable,” Schiff said on social media in July. “Not by a long shot.”

The mortgage investigation came after Schiff opposed Ed Martin, Trump’s choice for federal prosecutor in Washington, DC. Martin withdrew and was named to a Justice Department position that didn’t require Senate confirmation.

“The allegations against Sen. Schiff are transparently false, stale, and long debunked," said Schiff's lawyer, Preet Bharara. "Now Ed Martin, the most brazenly partisan and politically compromised person possible for the task, has been picked to investigate a political adversary."

Trump signaled another inquiry into Schiff over the investigation of Trump’s dealings with Russia during his term. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, found that Russians tried to influence the 2016 election in favor but did not find a connection to the Trump’s campaign.

FBI Director Kash Patel recently declassified and released FBI interview notes from a former House Intelligence Committee staffer who first accused Schiff in 2017 of directing illegal leaks of classified information about Trump and Russia.

Schiff’s office said Patel’s “latest smear” was “absolutely and categorically false” in an attempt to distract from Trump’s falling poll numbers. Prosecutors reviewed the staffer’s accusations at the time and declined to pursue charges. The Justice Department’s inspector general reviewed the accusations in a 2024 report that determined the witness “had little support for their contentions” and “may not have been credible.”

But Trump told reporters Aug. 13 at the Kennedy Center that he hoped something would be done against Schiff about the Russia investigation that he called “phony” and “a hoax.”

“These people put our country at great danger, and Adam Schiff was all made up,” Trump said after looking at Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Hopefully something is going to happen with it.”

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sen. Adam Schiff creates legal defense fund amid Trump-spurred inquiries

Reporting by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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