The House censured one of its own members, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, on Wednesday for his criticisms of then-President Donald Trump and his participation in spearheading the first impeachment investigation into the former president.
The party-line vote came exactly one week after a similar attempt to reprimand Schiff, D-Calif., was defeated after 20 Republicans joined Democrats in blocking the resolution over concerns about a measure that called for a $16 million fine.
However, the resolution’s author, freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., stated this week that she had gained the support of the 20 GOP dissidents after removing language concerning a fine.
Following the vote, Schiff was directed to the House floor to receive a verbal reprimand issued by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Democrats yelled “Shame!” and “Disgrace!” at McCarthy.
The resolution also directs the House Ethics Committee to investigate Schiff. On the censure resolution, six Republicans voted present.
“The perpetrators of this web of deceit became mainstays on cable news, waking up every morning with one goal: to lie, lie, lie to the American people that there was direct evidence of Russian collusion,” Luna said before the vote in a floor speech.
The investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not find any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but it did document interactions between Russians and campaign officials and discovered that the campaign was eager to receive assistance.
During the Trump administration, Schiff was the chairman and ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, and he became the face of Democratic accusations that members of Trump’s 2016 campaign team colluded with Russia to defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Schiff is running for an open Senate seat in California.
McCarthy, a close Trump friend, single-handedly ousted Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., from the Intelligence Committee in January.
“I think once Donald Trump threatened that any Republicans who didn’t go along with his effort to censure me were going to get primaried, they fell in line. … They just cannot stand up to this most unethical, now-indicted president,” a defiant Schiff said on the Capitol steps before Wednesday’s vote.
A Tweet posted by the official account of NBC News. You can also find out more information about Rep. Adam Schiff Faces Unusual Republican Censure For Probes During Trump Era by reading the below tweet:-
BREAKING: Rep. Adam Schiff has been censured by House Republicans over his criticisms of Donald Trump and his role in leading the first impeachment inquiry against the former president. https://t.co/TaXpEWndgQ
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 21, 2023
“As [Franklin D.] Roosevelt said, sometimes you can judge a person by the enemies they make,” he continued. “Judging from the kind of crazy people that were on the floor today in support of this resolution, I’m doing really well measured by that standard.”
Censure is the House’s formal rejection of a lawmaker’s wrongdoing. Even in today’s polarized political environment, censure is rare.
Schiff is the 25th congressman to receive censure from the House in American history. On November 17, 2021, the conservative Freedom Caucus member and supporter of President Donald Trump, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, was censured for sharing an animation on Twitter that showed him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and insulting Vice President Joe Biden.
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The previous censure took place more than ten years prior to that. On December 2, 2010, the House censured Charlie Rangel, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and a Democrat from New York, for a number of ethical transgressions, including the use of congressional letterhead for fundraising and the filing of false financial reports and federal tax returns.
Democrats defended Schiff in both floor speeches and interviews, especially those who shared close working relationships with him on the Intelligence panel.
Adam Schiff completed his task. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., stated in an interview that he “spoke the truth and held Donald Trump accountable.” And populist politicians like Donald Trump dislike that. They dislike being called out by others.
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