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Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The Republican-led House voted to censor on Wednesday Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) for leading a number of investigations into then-President Donald Trump as part of his role as former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
The resolution, which also requires an ethics investigation into Schiff’s conduct, was passed along party lines by a vote of 213 to 209. Six Republicans voted “present.”
When House Speaker Kevin McCarthy began to read the formal disapproval aloud, Democrats rallied in the pit to shout “Shame!” and “Shame!” at him. McCarthy tried for several minutes to restore order, but was unsuccessful.
During the debate on the measure earlier, Schiff told Republicans on the floor, “You honor me with your enmity.” He labeled the “false and defamatory” resolution as nothing more than “petty political retaliation” designed to intimidate those considered Trump’s enemies.
After promising he would not budge, “not an inch”, Schiff emphatically suggested: “My colleagues, if there is cause for censure in this House – and there is – it should be directed at those in this body who tried to free and fair elections.”
Last week was the measure flatly rejected through the House as 20 Republicans crossed the aisle to vote against. They changed their mind after the resolution’s sponsor, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), struck down a provision that would have fined Schiff $16 million if found guilty of ethics violations, according to the Associated Press.
The resolution accused the California Democrat of “misleading the American public and (of) inappropriate conduct by an elected member of the House of Representatives” while leading the 2017 congressional investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia.
Schiff also served as chief prosecutor during Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019. Both jobs earned him little love among MAGA diehards in the chamber, and he was removed from the Intelligence Committee by McCarthy after Republicans seized control of the 2022 midterm elections. House had taken over.
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Claiming that Schiff had “exploited his position of power as committee chairman,” Luna bellowed Wednesday that he had taken “every opportunity” to threaten national security, undermine Trump and dishonor Congress. She added that Schiff had “woken up every morning with one goal: to lie, lie, lie to the American people that there was direct evidence of collusion with Russia.”
“This is not a partisan act,” the Florida congressman said. “This is not a conservative versus liberal vote. This is a clear choice between right and wrong, and I urge you to do the right thing.”
More Republicans flocked to dogpile on Schiff, with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) who labeled him a “swindler” and a “liar”.
Boebert is also trying to force a vote to impeach President Joe Biden this week. (The Daily Beast reported earlier on Wednesday that Georgia Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, feeling deprived of a chance to introduce her own impeachment resolution, called Boebert a “female dogto her face on the house floor.)
Censure, a formal gesture of disapproval of a Member’s conduct by the House, has no concrete consequences, but is still rare. Including Schiff, only 26 members of the House have ever been censured, and only three in the past four decades – the other two being Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) in 2010 and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) in 2021 .
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