President Donald Trump doesn't deserve praise for changing his mind on whether the suspect in this week's terror attack in New York should be sent to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Thursday.
"I am not surprised that his initial outburst proved to be wrong-headed and ill-considered," the California lawmaker told CNN's "New Day" program. "It's sometimes surprising to see him recognize that, although I am sure he would tell you that's not the reason he changed it."
On Wednesday, the president commented that he'd be willing to send Uzbek terrorist Sayfullo Saipov to Gitmo following this week's attacks on a bike trail in Manhattan that left eight dead and injured a dozen more.
Thursday, though, Trump tweeted that he'd changed his mind, as the process to bring Saipov to justice would take much longer if he was to be sent to the Cuban prison.
Following the attack, Trump also referred to the justice system's handling of suspects as a "joke" and a "laughing stock," according to The Washington Post.
"This is not the first time he has taken pot shots at our justice system," Schiff said. "When judges ruled against him on the Muslim ban, he called them so-called judges. These assaults on our mainstream institutions are having an affect and eroding confidence. That's a tremendous disservice. I don't think he deserved a lot of love for this."
Schiff also discussed the ongoing investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election, and commented he could not confirm or deny statements Trump made to The New York Times that he is not under investigation by prosecutors.
"All I can tell you, Chris, is that the people that were indicted, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, obviously played deep roles within the Trump campaign," Schiff said.
Further, former adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty in early October to lying to the FBI, was already one of the witnesses on the Intelligence Committee's list.
"It's my hope that the cooperation agreement he reached with the government will require not only his cooperation with Mueller's team but with congressional investigators as well," said Schiff.