The move comes after GOP lawmakers threatened to fine Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff for $16 million
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff stands outside the House chamber after a vote to censure him, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, June 21, 2023. © AP / J. Scott Applewhite
The US Congress has voted to censure Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, with Republicans claiming he used his position on the House Intelligence Committee to spread “falsehoods” about former President Donald Trump and his alleged “collusion” with Moscow.
The censure resolution passed in a 213-209 vote on Wednesday, with lawmakers largely sticking to party lines. The House chamber erupted into a chaotic scene as Speaker Kevin McCarthy attempted to read out the results of the vote, with defiant Democrats shouting and cheering for Schiff.
Introduced by Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna, the four-page resolution sought to reprimand Schiff “for misleading the American public” while serving as House Intelligence Committee chairman, and later its ranking member. It also directed the House ethics panel to investigate the lawmaker’s “falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information” regarding Trump, including unsubstantiated claims that he worked with Russian intelligence to win the 2016 election.
“The American people do not trust Congress. The cyclical pattern of lies has worn down the credibility of every institution and every official in the United States government. You see it, I see it,” Luna said during debate on the resolution. She added that failure to “hold this man accountable” would “betray” the American people.
Luna proposed a similar censure resolution last week, but it was shot down after more than 20 GOP lawmakers joined Democrats to vote against it. Opponents of the measure cited a provision that would have allowed the House Ethics Committee to fine Schiff for $16 million if it determined that he lied, deeming the penalty unconstitutional. The text of the bill was altered ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
Schiff later declared that he would wear the “partisan vote as a badge of honor,” claiming the move to censure him was only proof that he has been “effective in the defense of our democracy.”
Long one of the most vocal proponents of the ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy theory, Schiff eagerly embraced the most incendiary allegations against the former president, including now-disproven claims found in the infamous ‘Steele Dossier.’ Though he once read the document into the congressional record, Schiff later distanced himself from the dossier after the FBI acknowledged its highly questionable sourcing.
The House last voted to censure a lawmaker in 2021, when Democrats reprimanded GOP Congressman Paul Gosar for sharing an anime video on social media depicting cartoon violence against President Joe Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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