Rep. Adam Schiff accuses Erik Prince of lying to Congress, refers to his testimony to DOJ

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Made a criminal referral to the Justice Department about Erik Prince's Congressional testimony, arguing he "willingly misled the committee."

Schiff accused Prince, a military contractor who founded Blackwater and whose sister, Betsy DeVos, serves as President Donald Trump's Secretary of Education, of making false statements to Congress on a rally of a banker in January of 2017, shortly before Trump's inauguration.

In the 16-page referral, transmitted Tuesday afternoon, Schiff "identified at least six categories of materially false statements that Mr. Prince made during his testimony in his January 11, 2017 meeting in the Seychelles."

The meeting in the Seychelles Islands raised suspicions with investigators that the two were trying to set up a back-channel between the Kremlin and the Trump administration.

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In the heart of the House Intelligence Committee during the month of February 2017, the Prince has asked for a chance encounter "over a beer," insisting he "did not fly to meet any Russian guy."

He testified that he traveled to Seychelles for a meeting with United Arab Emirates officials about possible business opportunities, and they were introduced to Dmitriev.

But Schiff, after reviewing a redacted version of the Robert Mueller's report.

"We know from the Mueller that it was not a chance meeting," he said, "Schiff said Tuesday," He was also asked whether he was attempting to establish a backchannel for the Trump transition. campaign, which he also denied. "

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"So in very material ways, I think the evidence strongly suggests that it willingly misled our committee and the Department of Justice," Schiff added.

An attorney for Prince, Matthew L. Schwartz, insisted Tuesday "There's nothing new here for the Department of Justice to consider."

A source close to Prince recently indebted to members of the Congress of ABC News, accusing members of Congress of "imprecise" questions during his testimony.

Last year, the Russian investment fund manager, Putin ally named Kirill Dmitriev, suggested to ABC News that he had wanted to meet with Prince in order to improve relations between the U.S and Russia.

"I can not say much more about this meeting- we can say that we are meeting hundreds of business people throughout the year and we believe that the goal of restoring US-Russia relations is a good one, it's a noble one and we want to unite different people who want to restore US-Russia relations, "Dmitriev told ABC News.

ABC News' Benjamin Siegel contributed reporting.