In a huge win for freshman Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13), and honesty and integrity in Congress, the House voted 213-209 to censure Rep. Adam Schiff,
the former Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for his campaign of lies about Russian connections to former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Luna led the censure resolution, accusing Schiff of abusing his privileges as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to “lie, lie, lie to the American people that there was direct evidence of collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016. She noted that Schiff was a frequent guest on cable TV news and that he has continued to raise money from false Trump-Russia claims, reported deadline.com.
Luna’s attempt to pass a censure resolution last week stalled out in the face of Republican opposition. But she revised the resolution to remove a $16 million fine on Schiff and gained the votes necessary to pass the resolution.
Luna’s resolution censures Schiff “for misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives,” and, reported Mychael Schnell of The Hill, it directs the Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation into the congressman’s “falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.”
The four-page measure accuses Schiff of spreading false claims that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, abusing the trust afforded to him as chairman and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee when airing the Trump-Russia allegations, and behaving “dishonestly and dishonorably” when discussing events related to Trump’s first impeachment.
“The American people do not trust Congress. The cyclical pattern of lies has worn down the credibility of every institution and every official in the United States government. You see it, I see it,” Luna said on the House floor during debate Wednesday.
“If we run away from the opportunity to hold this man accountable there is only one fault, and that is of ourselves,” she continued, reported Ms. Schnell. “We will betray the people who trusted us and sent us here to do the right thing, we will be responsible of any shred of justice in this body, and we will reject the duty that we swore an oath to protect upon taking office.”
The GOP members included Reps. David Joyce of Ohio, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Andrew Garbarino, of New York, Ken Buck of Colorado, John Rutherford of Florida and Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota — five of whom are on the House Ethics Committee.
"Members who sit on the Ethics Committee historically vote ‘present’ so as to not weigh in on investigations before they are brought to them," said Rep. Luna, who introduced the censure resolution.
Rep. Garbarino told Brie Stimson of Fox News that the votes from him and other Republicans on the Ethics Committee were intended to preserve "the integrity of the investigation" into Schiff, rather than a break from the party. He added, "Ethics Committee rules and fundamental due process considerations require that Ethics Committee members make impartial and unbiased decisions. If we would have voted for the resolution, it could have triggered a process for Congressman Schiff to request we recuse ourselves, effectively shutting down the investigation."
Similarly, Rep. Joyce told Fox News Digital in a statement after the vote, "As a member of the House Ethics Committee, I have always deemed it appropriate to vote present on legislation related to matters that are or could come before the committee rather than prejudging the outcome of the committee’s investigation."
It remains unclear why Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, normally a conservative vote, was the only Republican not on the Ethics Committee to vote “Present.”
After admonishing Schiff on the Floor of the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted, “Adam Schiff abused his position as Chair of Intel to lie and lead America through a national nightmare with the fake Russia collusion narrative.”
The full House has now voted to censure Schiff and open an ethics investigation, let’s hope that Speaker McCarthy keeps the House moving toward real punishment of Schiff to deter future lying scoundrels such as he from abusing their power as he did, in a campaign of evil falsehood and deceit unique in the annals of American politics and government.
Rep. Ana Paulina Luna (FL-13)
H. Res. 437
Fine Adam Schiff $16 million
censure motion
20 Republicans vote no
Republican leadership
Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Ethics Committee
House Intelligence Committee
Trump Russia investigation
Now do ted Lieu, Nader AND Pelosi, schiftySchiff wasn't the only Criminal spreading Lies on National Media & I hope & Pray President Trump Sues Every one of them, none should have 2 nickels to rub together as they rot in Gitmo!!
One small step in the reclamation of the long lost GOP honor. There needs to be GIANT steps to overcome the cancerous omnipotent Swamp. We need the gun fighter back in town to clean up the crooked sheriff and his posse. Again. Vote Trump!
Censuring the little Communist hypocrite is a good start. Now, impeach him, try and convict him for high crimes and treason, and either put him in jail for the rest of his life or hang him from the highest tree in Washington, District of Corruption. The second alternative is vastly preferable.