The GOP-controlled House is poised to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and possibly fine him $16 million for his role in advancing the debunked Russian collusion narrative, abusing the trust afforded him as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and for behaving “dishonestly and dishonorably.”
Now, it’s just a matter of getting Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s resolution to the floor and seeing it through to a vote.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) indicated that if the resolution comes to the floor, he will vote against it, noting, “I’m still litigating a federal lawsuit against Pelosi over a salary reduction she imposed on me for my refusal to wear a mask. … The Constitution says the House may make its own rules but we can’t violate other (later) provisions of the Constitution. A $16 million fine is a violation of the 27th and 8th amendments.”
Republicans will need to present a united front to see the resolution through, as Democrats intend to introduce a motion to table or kill the resolution and are sticking together, reported Axios.
Luna, a member of the Freedom Caucus, suggested the vote will likely be held Thursday morning.
The resolution, introduced by the Florida congresswoman May 23, accuses Schiff of abusing the trust afforded him while serving as ranking member and then chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It further condemns him for behaving “dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions.”
The resolution states Schiff cited evidence of collusion between former President Donald Trump and Russia “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. … By repeatedly telling these falsehoods, Representative Schiff purposely deceived his Committee, Congress, and the American people.”
Luna’s resolution also drags Schiff for:
- lending “credibility to the Steele dossier — a collection of debunked collusion accusations funded by President Trump’s political rivals — by reading false Steele allegation into the Congressional Record at a HPSCI hearing on March 20, 2017”;
- abusing his privileged access to classified information by composing “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 acted to ‘mislead the FISC'”;
- grossly violating Carter Page’s civil liberties by smearing him “as a Russian collaborator and justifying spurious investigations of him”;
- “falsely denying that his staff coordinated with a whistleblower to launch the first impeachment of President Trump”; and
- reciting “a false, concocted rendition of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.”
Luna claimed Schiff owes the American people a debt, as his “lies, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information” resulted in a Russian-collusion investigation that cost taxpayers $32 million.
This figure appears to reflect the cost of the two-year special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller as indicated in an expenditures report circulated by the Department of Justice in August 2019.
To recoup this debt, Luna suggested that Schiff be fined $16 million.
Concerning the forthcoming vote on the resolution, Luna tweeted, “Schiff just hit the fan.”
Schiff hit Twitter with a response Tuesday, employing a turn of phrase coined by Adolf Hitler: “Today Rep. Anna Paulina Luna introduced a resolution to censure & fine me $16 million. Authors of the big lie are attacking me for telling the truth &holding Trump accountable. This is not just an attack on me—it’s an attack on our democracy & the institution of Congress.”
After first seizing upon the Republican effort to hold him accountable as a fundraising opportunity, Schiff later told CNN that he was “flattered” by the “MAGA resolution,” which he suggested was a testament to his effectiveness.
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