WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat who led the impeachment case against former President Donald Trump and sat on a committee that probed the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said on Thursday he would run for U.S. Senate.
"Our democracy is under assault from MAGA extremists, who care only about gaining power and keeping it," Schiff said in a statement, using a Trump slogan standing for "Make America Great Again. "I look forward to campaigning hard in this race."
Schiff joined other California Democrats running for the seat currently held by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. U.S. Representative Katie Porter launched her U.S. Senate campaign this month. The Washington Post has reported that Representative Barbara Lee was also considering a run for the seat.
Feinstein, who has held the seat since 1992, has not said she would run for re-election.
Schiff, 62, is the former chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. The new Republican House Speaker, fellow Californian Kevin McCarthy, has blocked Schiff from serving on the prestigious panel again.
Schiff, a prominent House Democrat who was first elected in 2000, gained national attention for his high-profile role in the 2020 Trump impeachment trial. He also sat on the select committee investigating the Republican former president's role in the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by Doina Chiacu)
