The House of Representatives has voted in favor of censuring Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) over documented untruths that the California Congressman has told the American people.
NOW – U.S. House censures Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) pic.twitter.com/UQcUvbfBvu
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 21, 2023
The House vote broke down into 212 ‘yay’ votes for Republicans, with four voting ‘present’ and 6 ‘no votes,’ while Democrats voted 208 ‘nay’ with 4 ‘no votes.’
As part of the censure procedure, Schiff will stand on the House floor while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reads a brief rule about the censure.
The effort to censure Schiff, who is currently running for a US Senate seat in California, faced an initial procedural hurdle earlier in the day when a vote to dismiss the legislation failed.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, spearheaded the effort with a revised measure focusing on Schiff’s role in the Russia probe and his investigations into Trump after a previous attempt she supported did not succeed last week.
The resolution accuses Schiff, who served as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee at the time, of misleading the American public during the congressional investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign.
It also criticizes his actions leading up to the former president’s first impeachment. Schiff has dismissed these allegations as “false and defamatory.”
Luna announced on Tuesday that she had secured the necessary votes for the censure and to refer Schiff to the House Ethics Committee.
She tweeted, “I have called up my censure motion and will be bringing the vote to hold Adam Schiff accountable to the floor tomorrow.”
The initial resolution put forth by Luna failed last week after 20 Republicans voted to table it, while two voted “present.”
However, after making some adjustments to the legislation, including removing a $16 million fine that was attached to it, Luna gained more support.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who previously opposed the motion, stated on Tuesday that he now supports the revised version and is assisting Luna in her efforts to secure votes.
Although some House Republicans voted against the resolution last week due to concerns about constitutionality and fears of a potential tit-for-tat response, several of those lawmakers have signaled their support for the new resolution.
However, some GOP representatives have expressed worries that these repeated attempts to censure Schiff are inadvertently boosting his fundraising for his Senate candidacy.
Ahead of the vote on Tuesday, Schiff called the move “a badge of honor” and stated, “They wouldn’t be going after me if they didn’t think I was effective.”
He further added that wasting the House’s time on what he considers to be a false and defamatory resolution is a disservice to the country.
During his time as the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff launched a comprehensive investigation in February 2019 into then-President Trump’s finances and the Russia matter. In the course of the investigation, Schiff made multiple false statements, such as possessing indisputable proof that Donald Trump committed treason by colluding with the Russians.
Additionally, Schiff played a prominent role as the lead House impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment, presenting the House’s case for removing him from office during the Senate trial. The Senate ultimately voted to acquit Trump.
