Donald Trump slams 'deranged lowlifes' such as Adam 'Shifty' Schiff who 'leak information on China and like the Russia narrative' after White House stopped in-person briefings to Congress on election security

Donald Trump has said his administration stopped in-person briefings on election interference to Congress because Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff leaks information to the media. 

The nation's top intelligence official John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate and House intelligence committees on Friday that the committees would only be receiving written updates about election security.

He said it was to help ensure the information 'is not misunderstood nor politicized.' 

And Trump said Ratcliffe made the decision because the administration 'got tired' of intelligence about election security leaking from Congress.

'They leaked the information ... and what's even worse, they leaked the wrong information and we got tired of it,' Trump told reporters while attending a briefing on Hurricane Laura in Orange, Texas. He didn't offer details to support his statement. 

He later tweeted: 'Probably Shifty Schiff, but others also, LEAK information to the Fake News. No matter what or who it is about, including China, these deranged lowlifes like the Russia, Russia, Russia narrative. Plays better for them. @DNIRatcliffe doing a great job!' 

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Trump on Saturday accused the chairman of the intelligence committee of leaking information

Democrats expressed outrage at the decision by Ratcliffe, who directs the office overseeing the nation's intelligence agencies.

'This is a shocking abdication of its lawful responsibility to keep the Congress currently informed, and a betrayal of the public´s right to know how foreign powers are trying to subvert our democracy,' Schiff said in a joint statement with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

'This intelligence belongs to the American people, not the agencies which are its custodian. 

'And the American people have both the right and the need to know that another nation, Russia, is trying to help decide who their president should be,' they said.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said the idea that the national intelligence director's office would stop briefing Congress on foreign threats to the U.S. election is 'an outrage' and that written updates were 'flatly insufficient.'

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National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe informed Congress on Friday about the change

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Ratcliffe said the move was made to ensure information 'is not misunderstood nor politicized'

'America´s election - indeed, our foundation of democracy itself - is under threat as we face weaponized disinformation from global foes around the planet,' King, a member of the Senate's intelligence committee, said in a lengthy statement. 

'To stifle and limit the American peoples´ awareness of this fact cannot be explained - or allowed.' 

Ratcliffe, who oversees the nation's intelligence agencies, sent formal notification letters Saturday to the Senate and House leadership and the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers' intelligence committees. 

An official with Ratcliffe's office said Ratcliffe remains committed to meeting statutory responsibilities and keeping Congress informed. 

The official said, however, that there are concerns about unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information following recent briefings on Capitol Hill. 

In his letter to the committees, Ratcliffe wrote: 'I believe this approach helps ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the information ODNI provides the Congress in support of your oversight responsibilities on elections security, foreign malign influence, and election interference is not misunderstood nor politicized.'

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was with Trump in Texas, said lawmakers will still be sent full written readouts. Meadows said Ratcliffe is going to make sure there are 'proper tools for their oversight.' 

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Democrats were furious at the decision, saying it deprived the public of essential oversight

Earlier this month, the nation´s counterintelligence chief, William Evanina, issued a statement saying U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia is using various methods to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and that people linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin are boosting Trump´s reelection bid. 

U.S. officials also believe China does not want Trump to win a second term and has accelerated its criticism of the White House, Evanina wrote. 

Officials have not detailed specific steps Beijing had taken to interfere in the election.