Rep. Adam Schiff, a major lawmaker in Democrats’ congressional investigations of former President Donald Trump when he was in office, was the target of a vote of censure on Wednesday in the House of Representatives of the United States of America.
The resolution accuses Schiff of misrepresenting the American people when he was pursuing the congressional investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign as the then-chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Additionally, the resolution criticises Schiff for acts he made leading up to the former president’s first impeachment attempt. Schiff has refuted the charges, claiming that they are “false and defamatory.”
The vote was split along partisan lines, 213-209. Michael Guest of Mississippi, Dave Joyce of Ohio, Andrew Garbarino of New York, John Rutherford of Florida, and Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota, all of whom are Republicans on the House Ethics Committee, voted present. In addition, Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado voted present, despite the fact that he is not a member of the Ethics Committee.
As part of the process for censure, Schiff was required to stand in the well of the House floor as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made many attempts to recite a short rule about censure. On the House floor, Schiff was joined by his fellow Democratic representatives, who loudly shouted for him and repeatedly cut McCarthy off while he was speaking.
After a vote to kill the legislation was unsuccessful, the move to censure Schiff, who is seeking for a seat in the United States Senate in California, was able to cross a major procedural block earlier in the afternoon on Wednesday.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, took the initiative to reintroduce a measure on the House floor that would investigate Robert Mueller for his role in the Russia investigation and the investigation into whether or not President Trump colluded with Russia.
