Who Is Keith Schiller? Trump's Former Bodyguard To Testify For House's Russian Investigation

The House Intelligence Committee added President Trump's longtime bodyguard and White House aide Keith Schiller's name to a growing list of witnesses to interview for their investigation into Russia's interference during the 2016 election, according to a report by ABC News on Thursday.

Schiller was a bodyguard to the president for almost two decades before he was promoted to White House aide after Trump assumed office in January. His official title is White House director of Oval Office operations and considered very close to the president's inner circle.

The report by ABC News described him as Trump's "body man, confidant, and gatekeeper" and noted that Schiller was tasked with the responsibility of hand-delivering the note to the FBI Headquarters that announced former FBI Director James Comey's termination on May 9.

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Schiller's influence during the campaign has led one former aide to the president to call him the "most underestimated person on Trump's team" and that his opinion during the campaign "mattered more than the campaign manager," according to a CNN report in May.

A former NYPD detective and a member of the Navy, Schiller joined the Trump Organization in 1999 before being promoted to Trump's head of security in 2005. He has been referred to as a person who understands Trump, and could "translate" what the president meant when communicating with leaders during Trump's 2016 campaign.

"Anytime I wanted to understand something, I would ask Keith," said former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, according to CNN. "I valued him for all the roles he played."

Additionally, Schiller accompanied Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to Iraq in April. Kushner is also being considered as a witness in the investigation.

READ: Who Is Roger Stone? Prominent Trump Aid Tied To Russian DNC Hacking Denies Efforts To Influence Election

Schiller joins a long list of Trump associates expected to testify in front of the House Intelligence Committee.

Roger Stone is expected to appear before the committee for a closed-door interview to discuss his communications last year with Moscow-linked hackers and WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. The hackers allegedly stole personal emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee, which Wikileaks then published.

Other Trump associates expected to testify include former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was fired in February after he was caught in a lie to Vice President Mike Pence about his meetings with Russian ambassadors, Jared Kushner, and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was let go from the Trump campaign after it was revealed he had connections to the Russian-backed government in Ukraine.

Kushner, Stone, Flynn and Manafort have all volunteered their testimony with the committee and have denied wrongdoing.