A motion to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was defeated in a bipartisan vote on June 14 in the House of Representatives.
The motion, brought to the floor by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), is the latest episode in a long-running GOP feud with the California Democrat.
The measure was defeated in a 225–196–7 vote on a motion to table Luna’s resolution, which received support from both parties, including 20 Republicans voting against the resolution, as well as five GOP and two Democratic abstentions.
The resolution cited a series of allegations of misconduct and abuse of authority by Schiff, particularly regarding his role in the investigations of collusion between President Donald Trump and Russia, and his efforts to impeach Trump.
Following the vote, Schiff seemed unfazed, saying that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) took up the resolution “to gratify the MAGA people.”
“This is a predominantly MAGA problem,” Schiff told The Epoch Times.
“[McCarthy] has lost control of his conference. And so to gratify the MAGA people, he has to take up resolutions like this. And you know we’re seeing the downward spiral of the House, which is terrible for the institution.”
Schiff suggested that the true purpose behind Luna’s resolution is that “Trump and his MAGA supporters see me as a threat.”
Luna, for her part, expressed shock at the results of the vote, saying that the Republicans who voted against the motion would have to answer for their vote.
“They’re gonna have to respond on that,” Luna told The Epoch Times. “I think they probably didn’t read the bill, because there’s a lot of my colleagues down there that were shocked that 20 people would even do that. And so I think right now, you guys will see exactly who they are.”
Luna reported that after the vote failed, she went over to Schiff on the House floor promising that the measure would be taken up again in the future.
The 20 Republicans who voted to table the motion included Reps. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.), Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), Garret Graves (R-La.), Thomas Kean (R-N.J.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Marcus Molinaro (R-N.Y.), Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Mike Turner (R-Ohio), David Valadao (R-Calif.), and Steve Womack (R-Ariz.).
“20 Republicans voted w/ Dems to stop the ethics investigation, censure, & fine of Adam Schiff,” Luna posted on Twitter after the vote. “So there is no confusion (as some did not accurately read the bill) I will be filing a privileged motion to censure & send Schiff to ethics for investigation.
“See you next week Adam.”
The Allegations
Luna’s resolution lists a series of Republican complaints with Schiff, including his insistence on a now-debunked claim that Trump colluded with Russia in order to win the 2016 election. Schiff has nevertheless maintained that collusion did happen, despite the conclusion of the Durham report that no such collusion took place.
Schiff, who formerly served as the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence [HPSCI], was accused of betraying this “[position] of extreme trust” by “purposely [deceiving] his committee, Congress, and the American people” through his representation of false evidence of Russian collusion—a claim that Luna noted ultimately cost the federal government and the taxpayer $32 million.
Luna also referenced Schiff’s role in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Carter Page, a Trump associate.
Schiff “once again [abused] his privileged access to classified information” by composing “a false memo justifying the [FISA] warrant application on Trump associate Carter Page, which Inspector General [Michael] Horowitz later found was riddled with 17 major mistakes and omissions, provoking FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer to state unequivocally that the Federal Bureau of Investigation ‘mislead the FISC [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a FISA watchdog].’”
“By publicly smearing Carter Page as a Russian collaborator and justifying spurious investigations of him, Representative Schiff contributed to the gross violation of a United States citizen’s civil liberties, thereby committing the very abuses HPSCI is tasked with identifying and thwarting,” Luna wrote.
Luna also said Schiff behaved “dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions,” including his denial that his staff coordinated with a whistleblower to launch the first impeachment effort against Trump. As part of the same effort, Schiff was also accused of reciting “a false, concocted rendition of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”
Schiff has also been found in the past to have doctored cell phone conversations between former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as part of the now-defunct House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol’s probe into the events of the day.
Luna has also introduced a separate resolution to expel Schiff from Congress.
From The Epoch Times