Washington, D.C., June 21, 2023—With a vote of 213 to 209, along party lines, the Republican-led House today formally censured Representative Adam Schiff (CA-30) for allegedly misleading the American people that former President Donald J Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia, abusing his privileged access to classified information, and publicly misrepresenting a false retelling of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Six Republicans voted ‘present’ and three Democrats did not vote.
The censure now directs the Committee on Ethics to investigate Schiff’s alleged “falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.” The last censured lawmaker in the House was Republican Representative Paul Gosar (AZ-09) for posting an anime video depicting involving Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and President Joe Biden in 2021.
Schiff called the resolution a “distraction” and “petty political payback” to “censure of fine Trump’s opposition into submission.”
“To my Republican colleagues who introduced this sham resolution, I thank you,” Schiff said sarcastically on the House Floor prior to the vote that censured him. “You honor me with your enmity. You flatter me with this falsehood. You are the authors of a big lie about the last election and must condemn the truthtellers and I stand proudly before you. Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful.”
To my Republican colleagues who introduced this sham resolution: You honor me with your enmity.
You flatter me with this falsehood.
Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful. pic.twitter.com/ATVFDLaUYT
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 21, 2023
After the vote, Democrat lawmakers surrounded Schiff clapping and chanting, “Adam, Adam!”
Live from the House Floor:
Dems cheering for a man who lied to the American people for his personal gain and the agenda of his corrupt political party.
How embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/x3e4TInMoI
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) June 21, 2023
The privileged resolution was put forward by Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13), who failed last week to censure the California Democrat. The language to fine Schiff $16 million if the Ethics Committee found that he “lied, made misrepresentations, and abused sensitive information” was nixed in the revised resolution – the amount totaling half of the allegedly $32 million spent by Congress investigating potential collusion between Trump and Russia.
Schiff was once the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The committee oversees the nation’s intelligence activities, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the National Security Agency (NSA). In January of 2023, Speaker Kevin McCarthy ejected Schiff and Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-14) from the committee over Swalwell’s association with a Chinese spy and Schiff’s promotion of the debunked Steele dossier against Trump.
House Resolution 521: Adam Schiff Censured
Below is the resolution censuring California Representative Schiff in its entirety:
Censuring Adam Schiff, Representative of the 30th Congressional District of California.
Whereas the allegation that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election has been revealed as false by numerous in-depth investigations, including the recent report by Special Counsel John Durham, which documents how the conspiracy theory was invented, funded, and spread by President’s Trump’s political rivals;
Whereas Representative Adam Schiff, who served as ranking minority member and then Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives (the “Intelligence Committee”), occupied positions of extreme trust, affording him access to sensitive intelligence unavailable to most Members of Congress;
Whereas, for years, Representative Schiff abused this trust by alleging he had evidence of collusion that, as is clear from reports by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Special Counsel Durham, never existed;
Whereas, for years, Representative Schiff has spread false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia;
Whereas, on March 20, 2017, Representative Schiff perpetuated false allegations from the Steele Dossier accusing numerous Trump associates of colluding with Russia into the Congressional Record;
Whereas, once again abusing his privileged access to classified information, Representative Schiff released a memo justifying the accuracy of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant application on Trump associate Carter Page, of which was later found by Inspector General Horowitz to have 17 major mistakes and omissions, provoking FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer to state unequivocally that the Federal Bureau of Investigation “misled the FISC”;
Whereas, as ranking minority member and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Representative Schiff behaved dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions, including by publicly, falsely denying that his staff communicated with a whistleblower to launch the first impeachment of President Trump;
Whereas, as part of his impeachment efforts, during a hearing on September 26, 2019, Representative Schiff misled the public by reading a false retelling of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky;
Whereas, on March 28, 2019, every Republican member of the Intelligence Committee signed a letter calling for Representative Schiff’s immediate resignation as Chairman;
Whereas Representative Schiff hindered the ability of the Intelligence Committee to fulfill its oversight responsibilities over the Intelligence Community, an indispensable pillar of our national security; and
Whereas these actions of Representative Schiff misled the American people and brought disrepute upon the House of Representatives: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That—
(1) the House of Representatives censures Adam Schiff, Representative of the 30th Congressional District of California, for misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives;
(2) Representative Adam Schiff will forthwith present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure;
(3) Representative Adam Schiff will be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker; and
(4) the Committee on Ethics shall conduct an investigation into Representative Adam Schiff’s falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.
Author: Mario Lotmore
