A typically routine U.S. Senate hearing took a tense turn when President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director directly accused Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) of attempting to undermine the initial Trump administration through a campaign of misinformation.

John Ratcliffe, a straightforward intelligence officer who served as an advisor to President Trump in 2020, appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday to advocate for his nomination. He is among the key national security figures that Republicans aim to confirm before Trump’s inauguration on January 20th.

“We are not where we need to be,” Ratcliffe asserted in his opening statement. He highlighted Schiff’s misuse of authority when he led a group of 51 former intelligence officials in an open letter that dismissed Hunter Biden’s laptop as a “product of Russian disinformation.”