This week, the House will vote on a resolution from Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to censure California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff for his claims regarding former President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia.
“Luna pushing her Schiff censure appears to have opened the floodgates for right-wing lawmakers to pursue similar efforts, with or without buy-in from GOP leadership,” Axios reported. “That was demonstrated last week, when 20 Republicans helped to kill an iteration of the Schiff censure last week that included a $16 million fine.”
A few days ago, the conservative Center for Renewing America filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an investigation into Schiff’s repeated and fraudulent claims for years that he possessed evidence that Trump was essentially Vladimir Putin’s puppet.
“The request comes after Schiff, who previously led the House Intelligence Committee, pushed unproven allegations of Trump-Russia collusion for years and touted British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier,” the Washington Examiner reported.
“Those claims came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year after the release of the Durham report, which concluded the FBI had no proper basis for launching the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump and Russia in 2016,” the outlet added.
In its complaint, the Center for Renewing America asked the ethics office to “impose appropriate disciplinary and remedial action—up to and including expulsion” against Schiff.
The letter to the office of ethics indicated:
On May 15, 2023, Special Counsel John Durham released a 300-page report on matters arising from the 2016 election (“Durham Report”). The Durham Report detailed how the Clinton campaign concocted false allegations regarding supposed “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia. These baseless claims were funneled to credulous media outlets, the intelligence community, and the Federal Bureau Investigation (“FBI”)—which opened an investigation despite possessing NO evidence of collusion. According to CNN, “Special Counsel John Durham conclude[d] [that the] FBI never should have launched [the] full Trump-Russia probe.”
The Clinton campaign’s fabricated collusion narrative had no greater champion than Schiff, whose dedication to perpetuating the Russia Hoax without regard for the truth repeatedly violated clause 1 of House Rule XXIII, which states that “[a] member… shall at all times behave in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.”
Several Republicans argued that Luna’s proposed $16 million sanction against Schiff would be unconstitutional and thus opposed the motion. Despite opposition, Luna expressed her resolve to pursue the issue and declared her intention to introduce another motion of censure without a fine.
“20 Republicans voted w/ Dems to stop the ethics investigation, censure, & fine of Adam Schiff,” Luna noted in a tweet. “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.”
A vote of censure against Schiff does not result in any actual consequences, such as removal from office.
But it could hurt his chances of winning the U.S. Senate seat that Dianne Feinstein will vacate at the end of her current term next year.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
Earlier this year, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo accused Schiff of leaking highly classified information. CONTINUE READING…
