Congressman Adam Schiff’s Office Under Investigation for Suspicious Substance

U.S. Capitol Police are investigating after a “suspicious substance” was found near the office of House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor in the impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump. People were asked to avoid the area after Capitol Police responded to a call at around 10:30 a.m. reporting that a “suspicious substance” had been found at Room 2269 of the Rayburn House Office Building, according to FOX News’ Chad Pergram.

Politico reports that a yellow tarp was set up in front of the area just outside Schiff’s office after authorities arrived to the scene.

Approximately an hour later, the area was cleared, with Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki telling officials that they “conducted a thorough investigation and found no hazards.”

The scare came just ahead of Trump’s address to the nation following his acquittal, during which he slammed the trial as “evil” and “corrupt” and called Schiff “a vicious, horrible person,” The Guardian reports.

It also came after the White House, in a statement released just after Trump’s acquittal, suggested that Schiff should face consequences for leading the drive for impeachment.

“Rep. Adam Schiff lied to Congress and the American people with a totally made up statement about the President’s phone call,” the statement, which also slammed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, read in part. “Will there be no retribution?”

Addressing the investigation and both Trump’s and the White House’s statement, Pelosi, during her weekly news conference, said that she did not believe the suspicious substance threat against Schiff had anything to do with the White House calling for “retribution.” She did, however, add that Trump’s words carry a “ton” of weight and that making threatening statements is “wrong.”

“I do think they should rein in their comments,” she said, Bloomberg reports. “They are saying there should be payback to us for upholding our oath to the Constitution.”

Serving as the lead impeachment manager throughout the trial, Schiff has received numerous threats in recent months, with a 52-year-old Arizona man indicted just days ago for threatening to kill Schiff. Due to the ongoing threats, Schiff has been accompanied by a security detail since the beginning of the House’s impeachment inquiry in September.