Sen. Schiff on Trump’s ‘affordability hoax’: “I watch the president say these things, and my reaction is, “Please keep talking. Keep talking.”’

December 15, 2025 - Washington, D.C. — Last week, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° where he reacted to the latest failed attempt by the Justice Department to re-indict Letitia James – emphasizing each failed attempt before a different grand jury strengthens the case that these cases are politicized and vindictive prosecutions.

Schiff also discussed Indiana Senate Republicans rejecting Trump’s redistricting push and mocked President Trump’s inability to stop claiming that the affordability crisis is a ‘hoax’ as Americans around the country continue to face challenges with rising costs. 

View the full interview here. 

Key Excerpts: 

On Trump claiming the affordability crisis is a ‘hoax’: 

I think there must be a growing sense of alarm in the GOP. We just had an amazing election about a month ago where the Republicans were pretty well wiped out in the competitive races. And then more recently, you have the Democratic mayor succeeding in Miami, Democratic candidate in Miami — first time in a long time in Miami. You had a Georgia legislative seat flipped by a large margin, so Republicans are alarmed. And then you have the president completely tone deaf. Watching him talk about affordability and the challenge Americans face paying for things, being able to afford their rent, their mortgage, etc., calling it all a ‘hoax.’ I watch the president say these things, and my reaction is, “Please keep talking. Keep talking.” Because they’re going to talk themselves into a very small minority if they keep it up.

On the Justice Department failing to re-indict Letitia James: 

[…] As a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you it is exceedingly rare for a grand jury to reject a request for indictment, because the standard is so low, and the prosecutors can share with the grand jury and make whatever arguments they want. So, this is very rare. And Anderson, when you consider the history here, you see both how dangerous an abuse of power this is. The president going after his political enemies, but also how absurd it has become. Because this started when the career U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, appointed by Donald Trump, said, essentially, “There is no case there,” and was fired for it, along with top prosecutors.  

They bring in Lindsey Halligan, an insurance lawyer and friend of the president, to try to indict Letitia James. She is indicted, but … the indictment is [thrown out] because she was illegally appointed to that position. They try again before a grand jury, the grand jury refuses to indict. They try again before a different grand jury, that grand jury refuses to indict. Each time they try, each time they fail. They only strengthen the case that this is a purely vindictive prosecution. But I’ll tell you, I talked to one federal prosecutor, the other day. I asked, “How is morale in the department?” And the answer was, “What morale?”

On Republicans of the Indiana Senate joining Democrats in voting down a new congressional map: 

It shows that there are some limits, at least in some parts of the country. But I don’t know if I would read too much into it, because there’s also a heavy dose of self-preservation. To the degree that they try to reconfigure these districts, they potentially put Republicans at risk — Republican incumbents. So, I imagine that in addition to simply not being willing to go to this extreme, to alienate their voters with this mid-decade reapportionment, there is also an effort within the legislature, within the congressional delegation on the Republican side, not to put their incumbents in jeopardy by trying to be too greedy with redistricting.

Source: Senator Adam Schiff