House moves forward with measure to censure Adam Schiff
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The House moved forward Wednesday with a measure that would censure Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) for pressing allegations that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia, a week after a first attempt to censure Schiff was blocked. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight A vote to table the resolution — or effectively kill it — failed early Wednesday afternoon on a 208-218 vote along party lines. The vote triggered an immediate debate on the censure measure, which the House is set to vote on later Wednesday.
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), alleges that Schiff “spread false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia” and abused his privileged access to classified information. It also says that Schiff “behaved dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions.”
The measure that moved forward Wednesday is similar to one the House blocked last week but does not include the possibility of a $16 million fine against Schiff. Luna had said that amount was half the cost of an investigation into the alleged collusion.
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On the House floor Wednesday, Luna blamed Schiff for having “ripped apart American families across the country with repeated false narratives” and “sowing lasting division across our land.”
Democrats have dismissed the GOP’s efforts to censure Schiff as partisan retribution for trying to hold Trump accountable, as well as an attempt to distract Americans from Trump’s legal problems.
On Wednesday, Schiff said the “false and defamatory resolution” came at considerable cost to the country and blasted GOP lawmakers for not instead censuring those in the body who had sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“Today, I wear this partisan vote as a badge of honor, knowing that I have lived my oath, knowing that I have done my duty to hold a dangerous and out-of-control president accountable — and knowing that I would do so again in a heartbeat if the circumstances should ever require it,” Schiff said on the House floor, to applause from his Democratic colleagues.
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Last week, 20 Republicans voted with Democrats to table Luna’s first measure — effectively killing it — in a vote of 225-196. Two Republicans and five Democrats voted present.
In a statement Tuesday, Luna said “a majority of the 20” Republicans who had voted to table the first resolution would be changing their votes to support the measure this week.
“We have secured the number of votes needed to censure Adam Schiff and refer him to Ethics,” she said.
Luna’s measure is a privileged resolution, which means that under House rules, it has to be considered by Thursday.
“It is well within my right as a Congresswoman to file a privileged motion and hold Adam Schiff accountable for abusing and exploiting his official position and bringing dishonor to the House of Representatives,” she said.
Censures, which are rare in the House, are less severe than expulsion from the House but more severe than a reprimand. In the past three decades, only two lawmakers have been censured: then-Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) in 2010 for ethics violations and Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) in 2021 for tweeting an anime video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and swinging swords at President Biden.
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Schiff, who is running for Senate to replace the retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), has used the censure attempts to raise money for his Senate bid. In an email solicitation last week, he asked supporters to chip in at least $10 “to help my campaign fight back against these attacks.”
The California Democrat served as the lead manager in the 2020 Senate trial after Trump’s impeachment in 2019 for threatening to withhold military aid to Ukraine in exchange for political favors. He was removed this year from the Intelligence Committee by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who accused him of having abused his power.
Schiff’s opponents in the 2024 Democratic Senate primary include Reps. Katie Porter (Calif.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.). Schiff’s backers include former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
John Wagner and Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
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Source: The Washington Post
