U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) was formally censured and condemned by his fellow members of Congress on Wednesday afternoon as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) saw her resolution passed in a 213-209 vote.
Chants of "Adam, Adam, Adam" mixed with shouts of "shame" and "disgrace" along with "what goes around comes around" erupted from Democrats as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) closed the vote and announced that Schiff had become the 26th member of the House to receive the second-most severe punishment available to lawmakers.
FULL VIDEO: House Republicans successfully CENSURE Rep. Adam Schiff while Democrats throw a temper tantrum on the House floor. pic.twitter.com/AYdEo4o0GP
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 21, 2023
An initial attempt last week to formally censure Schiff fell short due to Republican opposition over concerns related to the constitutionality and precedent to be set with a multimillion-dollar fine, but Luna addressed her fellow House Republicans' concerns and followed through on her pledge to hold Schiff accountable for "abusing his privileged access to classified information" and behaving "dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions."
In Wednesday's second run at censure, there were just six Republicans who did not vote for the measure, instead voting "present," allowing the resolution to prevail: Reps. Joyce (OH), Guest (MS), Garbarino (NY), Buck (CO), Rutherford (FL), and Fischbach (MN).
1) House votes to censure Schiff for his role in the Russia probe
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 21, 2023
The vote: 213 to 209.
Six GOP members voted present. Reps. David Joyce (R-OH), Michael Guest (R-MS), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Ken Buck (R-CO), John Rutherford (R-FL) and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN).
The successfully passed resolution to censure Schiff "for misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives," required the California Democrat to "forthwith present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure" and "the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker."
Speaker McCarthy, after repeatedly pounding his gavel to get the House in order Wednesday evening following the vote, called Schiff to the well of the House floor to face his official censure. Democrats repeatedly interrupted McCarthy with yelling and chants and at least one shouted call for Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to be censured. "I have all night," quipped McCarthy as Democrats continued their antics. Eventually, Speaker McCarthy raised his voice to read the official censure announcement over Schiff supporters' rabble-rousing.
In addition to the formal censure procedure on the House floor, the resolution directed the House Ethics Committee to "conduct an investigation into Representative Adam Schiff's falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information" as outlined in Luna's resolution:
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
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member