SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) led the first impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump and is now on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Schiff released his new book, “Midnight in Washington: How we almost lost our democracy and still could," and discussed its contents with ABC10's Political Reporter Morgan Rynor.
"The continued effort by Donald Trump to push the big lie is what puts our democracy at risk right now," Schiff said. "Do I think he's going to run again? Absolutely."
Schiff believes Trump needs to be in the spotlight.
"I think he would find it intolerable for someone else to get the spotlight," Schiff said. "So I think he can't help but run, and I think given the iron grip he's got on that party is likely to be their nominee."
However, Schiff does not predict a win.
"The American people are not going to want to go back to his kind of ugly, divisive brand of politics," Schiff stated.
Schiff, who’s on the Jan. 6 committee, said the panel is not going to let anyone off easy. Starting with Trump’s close former adviser Steve Bannon who refused to testify Thursday after being subpoenaed.
The panel votes on Tuesday on holding Bannon in criminal contempt.
"We're quickly moving to hold him in criminal contempt and refer that to the justice department for prosecution," Schiff said. "So we're not fooling around, and it's our expectation that people cooperate, but if they don't, we intend to use all the tools at our disposal to compel answers."
In some way, shape or form, Schiff plans on looking intoTrump himself, saying the public is very interested in learning about the former president's role in the insurrection, although he would not definitively say if the committee plans on calling on Trump to testify,
"What was the president's role in all of this? What was going on in the white house? Why weren't troops sent in? To reinforce the capitol earlier? How much did the president know about the participation of these violent white nationalist groups that were assembling on the mall?" Schiff questioned.
The panel is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans; Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who both voted to impeach the president.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected putting any other republicans on the panel saying based on their actions it would hinder the integrity of the investigation.
