His answer shows his contempt for the ridiculousness of the loaded question. What it seems the questioner was fishing for was to get him on record saying someone was "close" to Trump so they could then use that person as an in for more phony baseless investigations.
Earlier in the transcript it's brought up that members can talk to the media but only about questions the witness didn't answer. Schiff at one point says "I'll take that as a non-answer" so he can approve himself to talk about it, and Gowdy straight torches him
His answer shows his contempt for the ridiculousness of the loaded question. What it seems the questioner was fishing for was to get him on record saying someone was "close" to Trump so they could then use that person as an in for more phony baseless investigations.
Earlier in the transcript it's brought up that members can talk to the media but only about questions the witness didn't answer. Schiff at one point says "I'll take that as a non-answer" so he can approve himself to talk about it, and Gowdy straight torches him