Adam Schiff Biography

Adam Bennett Schiff was born on 22nd June, 1960 in Framingham, Massachusetts, to Edward and Sherrill Ann Schiff.

His father was a garment salesman and his mother was a real estate agent. About eight years after his birth, his family moved to Scottsdale Arizona. A couple of years later, the family once again moved, this time to Alamo, California where his father purchased and operated a lumberyard. Adam and his brother worked in the lumberyard while growing up.

He completed his school education from Monte Vista High School, Danville in 1978 and thereafter obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Stanford University in 1982. He was also a pre-med there.

He then joined Harvard University to pursue studies in law and got Juris Doctor Degree in 1985.

After completing his studies, Adam Schiff began his career as a law clerk for Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He continued with the job for a year.

Thereafter, in 1987, he joined the Office of the United States Attorney for the Central District as the Assistant United States Attorney and worked there till 1993.

During his time there, he became known for the successful prosecution of Richard Miller, an FBI agent who was spying for the Soviet Union. This first ever conviction of FBI agent took three trials (two failed trials led by other prosecutors) over six years to finally reach its conclusion.

After he turned towards politics, he lost the election for California State Assembly seat to Republican James Rogan in 1994.

Two years later, he won the California State Senate seat for 21st district. At that time, he was the youngest member of the Senate.

His tenure in the Senate, which continued till 2000, saw him chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Juvenile Justice and the Joint Committee on the Arts.

In this capacity, he took various steps that were enacted into law. This included writing the legislation establishing the Gold Line Light Rail Authority. The authority completed the rail line to Pasadena in 2003 and later extended it. For his work for the line, Schiff's became known as Father of the Gold Line in the San Gabriel Valley.

In the year 2000, Adam Schiff defeated James E. Rogan and became the U.S. Representative for California's 27th congressional district. He began his tenure as U.S. Representative in 2001 and has since then been re-elected after every two year. His eleventh term in the Congress commenced in January 2021.

During this time, he served as the U.S. House Representative for California's 27th Congressional District from 2001 to 2003 and California's 29th Congressional District from 2003 to 2013. Finally, he became the representative of California's 28th Congressional District in 2013 and has continued in the position since then.

His district initially included Alhambra, Altadena, San Gabriel, Burbank, Glendale, South Pasadena, Temple City, Monterey Park and Pasadena; however, since 2010, his district also includes La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, Sunland-Tujunga, Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills, West Hollywood, Echo Park,Silver Lake and Los Feliz.

In the office, he introduced a resolution (passed in 2019) for the international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide; furthered efforts to advance press freedom globally by authorizing Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act (2010) and has been a strong proponent of the passage of new official Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) to combat Islamic State group.

He was one of the five democrats to be appointed to the House Select Committee investigating the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya. He also strongly backs the surveillance reforms, especially post the leaks made by Edward Snowden.

Moreover, he has worked towards reducing helicopter noise and improving earthquake warning systems too.

Adam Schiff served as the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee – which oversees the US intelligence agencies – between January 2015 and January 2019. He first joined the Committee in 2008.

He was appointed the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in January 2019 and in this capacity, he helped lead the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump after the Trump–Ukraine scandal.

In 2020, he was appointed the Lead Impeachment Manager by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump in the US Senate. The trial concluded with the acquittal of the president.

Adam Schiff is currently an ex officio member of the House Appropriations Committee – responsible for funding the core functions of the federal government. He was appointed to the committee in the 110th Congress in 2007. During his time, he has served on the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee and the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee.

He is the founder and co-chairman of the Congressional Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus, Democratic Study Group on National Security and the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press. He is also the Vice-chairman of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

He is also the member of New Democrat Coalition, House Baltic Caucus, Congressional Arts Caucus, Afterschool Caucuses and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Adam Schiff married Eve Sanderson in 1995 and the couple have two children together - Alexa and Elijah.

He is a marathoner and a triathlon athlete. In the year 2010, he was the only Congressman to take part in the inaugural Washington, D.C. triathlon. Since then, he has participated in numerous other races.

He also became the first Congressman to take part in a week-long charity bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2014 in order to increase awareness and raise money to combat HIV and AIDS.

Schiff is an amateur screenwriter but none of his screenplays has ever been sold. His first screenplay was a post-Holocaust story Remnant. It was followed by a murder-mystery Minotaur and then another spy drama film.

He is also a vegan.