Rep. Anna Paulina Luna announced Tuesday night she secured enough support from Republicans to censure Rep. Adam B. Schiff and refer him to the ethics committee.
Republicans will bring to the House floor on Wednesday a modified censure resolution against the California Democrat over his false allegations about President Trump’s supposed collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“I have spoken to many of my colleagues. A majority of the 20 will be changing their vote to support the motion, as well as other Members who were not in town for the initial vote have let me / my office know they will be voting with us,” said Ms. Luna, Florida Republican, in a statement.
“To be clear, this is not retribution. The GOP recently voted to refer one of our own to Ethics for investigation,” she said. “The fact is, as you saw today with Hunter Biden and the DOJ, there is a double standard of justice in this country.”
Mr. Schiff derided Ms. Luna’s new censure resolution Tuesday night as an effort to distract from legal issues of the nation’s top Republican.
“Rep. Luna just introduced a new censure resolution against me. And Rep. Gaetz introduced one against Bennie Thompson,” Mr. Schiff said on Twitter. “Now Rep. Boebert has introduced articles of impeachment against President Biden. MAGA Republicans will do anything to distract from Trump’s indictment.”
The Florida Republican had introduced a privileged resolution last week to censure Mr. Schiff over his public claims against Mr. Trump, based on his status as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee.
However, 20 Republicans helped Mr. Schiff‘s fellow Democrats table that earlier measure, which included a $16 million fine with which many Republicans disagreed.
That censure resolution was tabled 225-196, with seven lawmakers voting present and five not voting.
Ms. Luna’s new censure resolution no longer includes a monetary fine.
A member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, Ms. Luna tweeted that fellow Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who voted to table the initial censure resolution misunderstood that the $16 million penalty only was a “suggested fine.”
Mr. Massie appeared ready to support the new censure resolution without the fine when Ms. Luna tweeted “Censure Schiff Round 2 next week.”
“Thank you for fixing your bill for next week,” Mr. Massie said.
Two New York Republicans who previously voted to table the measure say they will now support the censure with its new language.
“I respect the Constitution and the oath we take to it. These revisions address my concerns, and I will vote to hold Rep. Schiff accountable,” Rep. Marc Molinaro tweeted.
Rep. Michael Lawler told The Washington Times he plans to support the new censure resolution of Mr. Schiff and expects most if not all of the 20 Republicans who voted to table it last week to do so as well.
Apart from leaving out the financial penalty, Ms. Luna‘s censure against Mr. Schiff will be similar to last week’s resolution against the California lawmaker — over his claims that Mr. Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
The measure condemns and censures Mr. Schiff for spreading “false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia” and that he “perpetuated false allegations from the Steele Dossier accusing numerous Trump associates of colluding with Russia into the Congressional Record.”
The resolution says Mr. Schiff abused his power against Mr. Trump’s campaign allies as a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence member.
He was “abusing privileged access to classified information, Representative Schiff released a memo justifying the accuracy of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant application on Trump associate Carter Page.”
Mr. Schiff was the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for several years until this Congress, when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed him and Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat, from the panel.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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