Tipsheet

Why Did This Republican Vote Against the Resolution to Punish Adam Schiff?

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  June 15, 2023 10:45 AM

On Wednesday afternoon 20 Republicans voted against a resolution to censure and fine Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff. Schiff is a known serial liar and national security threat. He abused his position as the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to pursue bogus witch hunts of "Russian collusion" against President Donald Trump. 

But at least one Republican, Congressman Thomas Massie, explained why he voted against the measure. Massie argues the resolution was too broad, unconstitutional and would give Democrats a weaponized tool when they inevitably regain a congressional majority in the future. According to Massie, the $16 million fine is the key problem. 

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna introduced the resolution to censure Schiff and is reportedly rewriting it for another vote. 

Here is the text of the resolution in full: 

Censuring and condemning Adam Schiff, Representative of California’s 30th Congressional District.

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Whereas the allegation that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to steal 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 (HPSCI), 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 citing 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—does not exist;

Whereas, by repeatedly telling these falsehoods, Representative Schiff purposely deceived his Committee, Congress, and the American people;

Whereas Representative Schiff lent credibility to the Steele dossier—a collection of debunked collusion accusations funded by President Trump’s political rivals—by reading false Steele allegations into the Congressional Record at a HPSCI hearing on March 20, 2017;

Whereas once again abusing his privileged access to classified information, Representative Schiff composed a false memo justifying the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant application on Trump associate Carter Page, which Inspector General 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”;

Whereas, 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;

Whereas as HPSCI ranking minority member and Chairman, Representative Schiff behaved dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions, including by falsely denying that his staff coordinated with a whistleblower to launch the first impeachment of President Trump;

Whereas as part of his impeachment efforts, during an HPSCI hearing on September 26, 2019, Representative Schiff recited a false, concocted rendition of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky;

Whereas Representative Schiff exploited his positions on HPSCI to encourage and excuse abusive intelligence investigations of Americans for political purposes

Whereas Representative Schiff used his position and access to sensitive information to instigate a fraudulently based investigation, which he then used to amass political gain and fundraising dollars;

Whereas the American taxpayers paid $32 million to fund the investigation into collusion that was launched as a result of Representative Schiff’s lies, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information; and

Whereas if it is determined by an investigation conducted by the Committee on Ethics that Representative Schiff lied, made misrepresentations, and abused sensitive information, he should be fined in the amount of $16,000,000: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That—

(1) the House of Representatives censures and condemns Adam Schiff, Representative of California’s 30th Congressional District, for conduct that misleads the American people in a way that is not befitting 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 lies, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information