Trump 'Pathologically Incapable of Telling the Truth.' Schiff Says Mueller Shouldn't Have Accepted Written Response from President

Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff harshly criticized Donald Trump on Sunday and pushed back against statements made by the president's personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani, arguing that special counsel Robert Mueller shouldn't have accepted written responses from Trump in his now-concluded investigation.

"It was a mistake to rely on written responses by the president," Schiff, who hails from California, said in an interview with ABC News This Week. "That's generally more what the lawyer has to say than what the individual has to say."

He continued, "I can certainly understand why the lawyers like Giuliani were fighting this, because the president is someone who seems pathologically incapable of telling the truth."

Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election and alleged collusion with Trump's campaign came to an official conclusion on Friday. Attorney General William Barr is expected to give Congress an overview of the findings soon. It's unclear how much – if any – of the report will be made public, but Barr has previously said he will reals as much as possible in consideration of what is legally allowed. Democratic lawmakers have strongly urged Barr to make all the findings public.

Guiliani took aim at Schiff in a Twitter post on Saturday, as Mueller's probe led to no indictments regarding collusion with Russia. The Democratic representative chairs the House Intelligence Committee and has been a prominent voice in Washington accusing Trump of conspiring with Moscow.

"Adam Schiff said 'there is significant evidence of collusion involving Trump campaign,'" Guiliani wrote. "I trust he is relieved there is no collusion. And I hope he will apologize for his mistake. We all make them. The real virtue is to admit it. It would help us heal."

Confronted with the tweet on Sunday, Schiff pushed back, saying that "Mr. Giuliani would be wise to wait until the report is made public before making any pronouncements on vindication."

"Likewise, people should wait to determine just how incriminating it is," Schiff added. "We know that the special counsel was not permitted to indict a sitting president, and we ought to see what evidence he produced both on the issue of conspiracy as well as on the issue of obstruction of justice," he continued.

The congressman also reiterated his position that there is "significant evidence" of collusion with Russia. "We have set that out time and time again, from the secret meetings in Trump tower, to the conversations between Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the providing of polling data to someone linked to Russian intelligence and stones conversation with WikiLeaks," he said.

Mueller's probe led to numerous indictments, guilty pleas and convictions, including several close associates of Trump. Paul Manafort, who served as Trump's campaign chairman, also lied to investigators about sharing confidential polling data with an associate linked to Russian intelligence. However, none of the charges or convictions brought against the president's associates were for collusion between the campaign and Moscow.