Schiff Accuses Trump of Using Tariff Policy to Enable ‘Insider Trading’

California Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat widely known for championing the debunked narrative that Donald Trump colluded with Russia to “steal” the 2016 election, has introduced a fresh allegation aimed at the former and possibly future president.

In a recent video shared to his social media platforms, Schiff alleged that Trump is using his tariff policy to intentionally impact the stock market in a way that allows for “insider trading,” potentially benefiting himself, his family, and administration insiders.

Schiff didn’t stop there—he also called for a new investigation into Trump, continuing his pattern of transforming speculative claims into political talking points.

“So, today, Trump removed many of the tariffs he had imposed in this on-again/off-again, it must be Wednesday, tariffs are off again kind of policy,” Schiff said. “This has just wreaked havoc on the markets, of course, but there is another profound danger, as well, and that is insider trading within the White House, within the administration.”

He pointed to one of Trump’s earlier tweets: “‘This is a good time to buy,’” Schiff quoted, raising concerns about who may have had prior knowledge of upcoming policy changes. “So the question is, between that tweet and Donald Trump’s announcement that he was reducing the tariffs on most other nations apart from China, the question is, who knew what the president was going to do and did people around the president trade stock knowing the incredible gyration the market was about to go through?”

While the investment adage to “buy low” is well-known, Schiff is implying that Trump may have deliberately disrupted the markets to create financial opportunities for those in his circle.

“Because, look, this is a president who is trading in his own meme coin, even as he’s president, his kids are trading in their own cryptocurrency,” Schiff claimed. “You’ve got people like Elon Musk, who are doing their own conflicted self-dealing in the administration,” he added—offering no proof of any misconduct by Musk.

Schiff expressed doubts about the administration’s willingness to cooperate: “In any administration this corrupt, it is more than necessary to ask were people personally profiting from insider information while people’s savings, their retirement accounts, were being torched. So, we’re writing to the White House to demand answers. Now, I am fully cognizant of the fact that the White House is probably the last place to be forthcoming about this or any other corruption in the administration.”

He continued, “We in Congress need to do more than demand answers. We need to do the oversight necessary to get those answers. To date, Republicans have not been willing to do this, not when it comes to insider trading potentiality, not when it comes to anything.”

Schiff also referenced recent whistleblower claims: “Just a few days ago, I held a hearing with people who had to quit the Justice Department, were fired at the Justice Department, because they were observing corrupt activity that they would not participate in,” he said, again offering no specific examples.

“We have tremendously benefited from courageous people coming forward. So, we invite whistleblowers to step forward, but at the end of the day, we’re going to get to the bottom of this, whether people were profiting off the pain of the American people.”

Critics have pointed out the irony in Schiff’s remarks, noting that despite longstanding public speculation about former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi allegedly profiting from stock trades while in office—amassing a reported fortune exceeding $100 million—Schiff has never publicly supported launching a congressional inquiry into their activities.