No, this isn’t the whistleblower posing with Adam Schiff’s family

Merry Christmas from the Schiffs and the whistleblower! A recent Facebook post claims the photo on a holiday card from U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff shows the man whose complaint spurred the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump grinning alongside the California Democrat and his family. 

"News ABC doesn’t tell you," one poster wrote. "The ‘Whistle Blower’ is dating Adam Schiff’s daughter, yet he doesn’t know who he is. Look at their family Christmas card. The ‘Whistleblower’ is featured proudly. You can’t make this stupidity up...!"

But, oh boy, you can. 

The Dec. 11 post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

The photo is authentic, though — Schiff posted it on Facebook on Nov. 28, the date of a different holiday. 

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on October 27, 2024 in an Instagram post

Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz “says that if Democrats win they’ll make (U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) speaker of the house.”

"Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!" he wrote. "With Eve, Alexa, and her boyfriend..." 

Schiff’s post gives the first name of the boyfriend, and it’s the same first name as a CIA officer whose identity has been shared widely on social media as posts claim to out him as the whistleblower. 

But that person is not the man pictured in Schiff’s photo — nor does he resemble him. (Also, for the record, PolitiFact cannot confirm that person is the whistleblower.)

Alexa Schiff’s boyfriend isn’t the first person to be confused with the CIA officer. We’ve already debunked multiple posts that claim photos of George Soros’ son, Alexander, is the alleged whistleblower. Another claim, that a photo of "Obama’s White House staff" shows the whistleblower, is also wrong. 

We rate this Facebook post Pants on Fire!