WATCH: Three More Years to Go: Sen. Schiff Breaks Down Trump’s First Year in Office, Underlines Continued Need to Defend Democracy

Schiff: "Someone has to stand up to this abuse of power. Someone has to defend our country and its people. Someone has to fight back. I have and I always will, because this fight isn't over. It's just beginning, and I won't back down."

Washington, D.C. - In a new video, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) today laid out the injustices and abuses of power the country saw in the first year of President Trump's second term in office. Schiff emphasized how the president's unchecked power and willingness to put his self-serving interests above those of the American people has altered our democracy: from purging prosecutors at the Justice Department who refused to engage in unethical conduct to pardoning January 6 insurrectionists to stripping health care from millions of Americans.

View the full video here. Download the video here.

Read the full transcript below:

Schiff: One year ago, Donald Trump took office.

Trump (in clip): I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear.

Schiff: And I made a commitment that I would do everything I could to deliver for California, and I am very proud of all I've been able to accomplish. But I also said that I would take on Donald Trump whenever it was necessary. That I would fight to protect Californians, that I would fight to protect our democracy and push back against any abuse of power. Many wondered whether that would be necessary, or how necessary, whether it would be different than the first administration. But I'd seen that movie before. I'd prosecuted that movie before. And if this administration was different, and it has been, it's been different in a far worse way, for a couple specific reasons.

First, unlike in the first administration, Donald Trump did not bring into his Cabinet or his office anyone of any independence, stature, anyone willing to say "no" to him. There would be no Secretary Mattis at Defense, no General Kelly's as his chief of staff. No, he would surround himself by utter sycophants and enablers, and he has. But perhaps even more significantly, in his second term, Donald Trump was given immunity by the U.S. Supreme Court. By that opinion by Justice Roberts that will live in infamy, that essentially immunized Donald Trump from liability for any criminal conduct he might engage in. So, this second term has been very different than the first. We've had to fight back and fight back hard, and that struggle is far from over. Because in his first year alone, he has unleashed unthinkable attacks on our democracy. From purging prosecutors at the Justice Department who refused to engage in unethical conduct, who put the rule of law above the rule of the person of the president.

Schiff (in clip): If this continues, we will be left with a Justice Department leadership populated by only cowards and fools. A Justice Department used both as a sword to go after the president's enemies and a shield to hide its corruption. Then, what will remain of our nation of laws?

Schiff (in clip): It all fits together as part of a corrupt scheme to turn this country into one man rule and to enrich Donald Trump and his wealthy friends like Elon Musk.

Schiff: To pardoning January 6 insurrectionists. People who beat and gouged and bear sprayed police officers and calling them patriots.

Trump (in clip): Approximately 1,500 for a pardon, full pardon.

Schiff (in clip): These are the people that Donald Trump pardoned, that he celebrated because they showed loyalty to him. And in Trump's world, nothing else matters.

Schiff: To threatening judges and prosecutors and legislators, anyone who would stand in his way, anyone who would hold him accountable.

Alex Witt (in clip): The president pressuring his attorney general to go after you. Saying, "We have to act now." How do you interpret that?

Schiff (in clip): Well, as a threat. He made it very clear that he was firing the U.S. attorney in Virginia for not bringing a meritless mortgage fraud case against Letitia James. And he's basically out in the opening pressuring his Attorney General, sending a message to other U.S. attorneys out there that if they don't do his will, they don't do his bidding and bring meritless cases against his enemies, they could be fired. And this is unlike anything we've ever seen.

Schiff (in clip): Look, I'm not going to be intimidated by anything he says, by anything he does. If I was, I wouldn't be on your show.

Schiff: From abandoning our allies and cozying up to dictators.

Schiff (in clip): This summit, I think, was a failure. It didn't advance our interests, or Ukraine's interests, or that of our allies. Putin walked away with essentially no cease fire, despite the president's demand for it. He walked away after being on the stage, on U.S. soil with the U.S. President, literally the red carpet rolled out for him. He walked away out from under the threat of sanctions from the United States. Trump had promised to impose sanctions.

Schiff: To his reckless handling of classified information.

Schiff (in clip): If nobody was objecting, that means that there was a certain routine already in this administration to use such poor trade craft.

John Eisenberg (in clip): I am not going to answer a hypothetical question.

Schiff (in clip): Well, it's not hypothetical. I wish to hell it were hypothetical. This just happened. This was shared with a journalist on a commercial app.

Schiff: To the reckless use of the military to secure oil resources of other countries or engage in regime change.

Schiff (in clip): This was no more about democracy than it was about drugs. It was about oil.

Schiff: From stripping health care from millions of Americans.

Schiff (in clip): In the wealthiest country in the world, does the government have any responsibility to make sure that health care is accessible to people? I think we do. Now, who are these millions of people that are going to lose their health care if we don't extend the ACA tax credits? Well, let me just share the stories of two of them of my constituents.

Schiff: To demonizing immigrants and vulnerable communities.

Schiff (in clip): When Narciso's sons finally got a hold of him. He had one request. He asked them to retrieve his landscaping equipment and finish the job that he'd been doing. That more than any set of immigration papers, says everything about the character of this man the administration has treated as some kind of a violent criminal. And this horrifying arrest and detention likewise says everything about the character of Donald Trump's lawless regime.

Schiff: From spreading dangerous disinformation on everything from elections to public health, to attacking the free press as enemies of the people, to forcing payments from news organizations.

Schiff (in clip): It is all part of the same attack on our democracy. And I will say, if this goes on, if Republicans allow this to go on for four years, there will be nothing left of our democracy.

Schiff: Every step of the way, I've called him out: on the Senate floor, in shadow hearings, at town halls, on the air, in nightly videos, on the ground, you name it. And I've held him accountable because silence is complicity, and we need to fight back.

Schiff (in clip): We need to remind the administration that a state may be blue or red, but it contains millions of people who are both blue and red.

Schiff (in clip): We can choose to build an economy that works for everyone, or we can choose to keep writing blank checks to those who already have more than they could spend in 100 lifetimes, or 200, or 300. Donald Trump has made his choice. What will we choose?

Schiff (in clip): He does not care about making your life better. He does not care that prices are soaring or that home ownership seems impossible. He doesn't care if you have to choose between rent or groceries, let alone whether you'll be able to take that family on a vacation that you've dreamed of. He doesn't care if the health care you rely on gets cut or your local Social Security office closes down. He doesn't care. If it helps pay for his billionaire tax cuts. It's all the same to him. He does not care.

Schiff: Someone has to stand up to this abuse of power. Someone has to defend our country and its people. Someone has to fight back. I have and I always will, because this fight isn't over. It's just beginning, and I won't back down. Look, next year isn't going to be easier. It may even be more challenging, but I'll be there, speaking out, fighting back, and I know you will too. So, thanks for being part of this fight to preserve our democracy. This legacy we've inherited is worth the struggle. Previous generations had to go off to World Wars to defend our democracy. Our task doesn't require anything like that, but nevertheless, we have the same obligation to pass on this incredible legacy to our kids and grandkids. And we will do so together.

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