Adam Schiff's 2020 Republican challenger vows to propel 'the viper into retirement'

Meet Eric Early, Schiff’s leading Republican challenger who minces no words when it comes to his desire to send the longstanding Democratic “viper into retirement and help give Congress back to the people.” (Eric Early)

He’s an unabashedly proud, MAGA hat-toting attorney in the left-leaning throngs of Los Angeles. And he has high hopes of removing Rep. Adam Schiff from his seat in California’s 28th congressional district in 2020.

Meet Eric Early, Schiff’s leading Republican challenger, who minces no words when it comes to his desire to send the longstanding Democratic “viper into retirement and help give Congress back to the people.”

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“Schiff could not care less about our district. He has been a carpetbagger since day one, having moved here from somewhere else to run against the then incumbent. In Schiff’s over 20 years representing the district, his record is appalling,” Early told Fox News. “He has done virtually nothing for the District while focusing almost exclusively on staying in power and trying to gain higher office.”

And as impeachment talks gain momentum in D.C – with Schiff in the limelight as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee amplifying concerns that Trump may have violated laws in his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – Early contends that there are questionable Schiff practices at play. But defeating Schiff in 2020 will be a tall order: Schiff won his race with nearly 78.4 percent of the vote in 2018.

President Trump accused "Little Adam Schiff," a Democratic congressman, of being "one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington." (Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

“I refer to him (Schiff) as a National Disgrace. It is becoming more and more evident that Schiff and his team likely clandestinely worked together with a conflicted and tremendously biased deep state Trump hater to orchestrate this latest outrage to try to destroy a duly elected American president,” he continued. “That in and of itself should disqualify Schiff from overseeing the so-called ‘inquiry.’”

Holding nothing back when it comes to his condemnation and zingers of his political opponent, Early has also accused Schiff of being something akin to a media hog, which was illuminated by his involvement in the two-year-long Russia investigation.

“Schiff appeared on national news shows over 400 times during that period, repeatedly telling every American how he had and had seen evidence that made it clear the president had colluded with the Russians to win the election,” Early continued. “As the then-ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff made the world believe that his knowledge was based on among other things, his access to classified information. Now Schiff never says the word Russia, but his two straight years of lies will forever be left in the public’s consciousness.”

In June, the L.A power attorney for more than 25 years made the bold move to throw his hat into the ring – having become fed up with Schiff’s continuous “lies on TV.” But it is not Early’s first foray into politics. He ran unsuccessfully for California attorney general in 2018 but claims that the experience prepared him for a run against Schiff.

“I spoke to people all around California, met many amazing people, received almost a million votes statewide, and thoroughly enjoyed campaigning,” he said. “My legal background has been great preparation for this role. I have practiced with some of the best and brightest attorneys. I have advocated for my clients in courts throughout the nation. I am a fighter and a debater, and I want to fight for my District.”

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In his current practice, Early is leading a lawsuit against the Santa Barbara Unified School District on behalf of a group of local citizens. They’re suing “for hiring an organization of social justice warriors who are indoctrinating the teachers and students with a radical far-left, America-hating, and racially divisive agenda,” he said.

“I’m hearing from parents around the country experiencing the same things in their schools,” Early conjectured. “If I am elected to Congress, I plan to do whatever I can to stop this creeping social justice warrior takeover of our nation’s public schools.”

A first-generation American, whose father and mother immigrated to the U.S in the 1930s from Austria and Poland, respectively, with his dad then joining the U.S. Marine Corps and earning a Purple Heart for his endeavors in the Korean War, much of Early’s views on American values were shaped by childhood. A childhood steeped in patriotism and wedged in a middle-class neighborhood alongside Jewish, Italian and Irish families.

FILE - In this May 30, 2019 file photo tents housing homeless line a street in downtown Los Angeles. The number of homeless people counted across Los Angeles County jumped 12% over the past year to a total of 58,936. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority presented the results of January's annual count to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, June 4. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

He describes himself as a “Reagan Conservative.”

“Reagan was strong, believed in a strong America, had firm convictions and beliefs, was willing to suffer the slings and arrows of maintaining his convictions,” Early noted. “Like President Trump, he knew and well understood the evils of communism and socialism and how they could destroy what makes America great.”

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He rattled off the issues he plans to highlight in the campaign against Schiff.

“Schiff has never said one word about the endless increase in our taxes being foisted on us by his friends in Sacramento. Schiff has also ignored the tremendous burdens caused by illegal immigration. Crime is on the rise,” Early added. “Prisons are being emptied. Law enforcement is not being given the tools it needs or proper support from those in power. Homelessness, severe mental illness, failing public schools, and education, etc. The problems are many, deep, and serious.”

A spokesman for Schiff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.