Today the leaders of a crucial US House of Representative committee conducted a press briefing in which they said they had seen no evidence of President Trump’s allegation that he or his staff had been wiretapped by President Obama during Trump's campaign.
The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes (R-CA), said, “We don’t have any evidence that that took place." The top-ranking democrat on the committee, Adam Schiff, agreed (D-CA), saying, “I have seen no evidence that supports the claim that President Trump made.”
The video above contains a portion of this press briefing. In this clip, only Representative Schiff is speaking.
From a body language perspective, one thing, in particular, jumps out regarding Rep. Schiff - his eyes. More specifically, both of his upper eyelids are, throughout most of this segment, opened much wider than baseline.
This "White and Wide" configuration of Adam Schiff's eyes (eyelids) is due to a hyper-adrenaline state. It's a very common physiologic response to anxiety. Even a person who's accustomed to being on national TV will be a more nervous when it involves an investigation with such high ramifications.
Although it's not captured in this portion of this press conference, it's crucial to note that Rep. Schiff and Rep. Nunes did not agree on whether or not there was yet, any evidence that Trump's campaign staff had any improper contact with the Russians during the campaign.
When a question regarding evidence of any possible link was posed, Mr. Nunes said, "Not that I'm aware of", while Rep. Schiff interjected saying, "You know, I, I'm, I wouldn't answer that question, ah, as categorically as my colleague and - ah, you know we're not privileged to talk about the contents of the investigation, but I, you know, I-I think we need to be very precise, ah, when we talk about this, ah-um - and I, I just don't think answer that, answer categorically, ah, and not in this forum." Thus it is possible that the details regarding this specific disagreement was the reason for Adam Schiff's heightened adrenaline.
The eyes are always of the utmost importance in the endeavor to accurately interpret (or project) nonverbal signals. What some people would call "subtleties" are often glossed-over or go completely unnoticed. And, in this example, Representative Schiff's eyelid changes are far from subtle.
See also:
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3878: Sean Spicer, White House Briefing, Donald Trump's Wiretapping Allegations
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3876: John McCain's "State of the Union" Interview re: Donald Trump, Michael Flynn, Wiretap Allegations and Russia
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3874: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Denies that Carbon Dioxide is the Cause of Global Warming
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3872: "Fearless Girl" Statue in Manhattan's Financial District
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3856: "Belle" Clip - Beauty and the Beast
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3811: Hayden Panettiere, Stephen Colbert and Personal Space
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3657: Abbey D'Agnostino, Nikki Hamblin and the Olympic Spirit
Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3647: Yusra Mardini, Refugees, Syrian Swimmer, and Sincere Smiles
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