The House of Representatives on Wednesday shot down the resolution proposed by Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna to sanction Representative Adam Schiff for falsely accusing former President Donald Trump of collaborating with Russia to win the 2016 election. Schiff was the instigator of the first impeachment against Trump in 2020, which Luna said was based on a false premise. Anna Paulina Luna has already announced that she will file a new privileged motion to censure Schiff and sit him before the House Ethics Committee.
The House vote was 225 to 196. In the session, 20 Republicans voted with Democrats to defeat Luna's initiative to censure the former chairman of the Intelligence Committee. Two other Republicans and five Democrats abstained. The proposed measures also provided for a $16 million fine in the event that the Ethics Committee found Schiff guilty. The representative said Luna's resolution was as if "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. Schiff considered Luna's initiative a "badge of honor that he will wear proudly." "MAGA Republicans are going after me because I dared to hold Donald Trump accountable. These efforts to intimidate me will not succeed. I will always defend our democracy," the Democratic representative added.
Looks like my vote to censure & condemn @RepAdamSchiff will likely be held Thursday morning. pic.twitter.com/TmVYCBPFuh
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 13, 2023
In his indictment against Trump, Adam Schiff argued that there was ample evidence proving collaboration between Trump and Russia to win the election. To support his claim, he relied on the report of the special prosecutor for the case, Rober S. Mueller III. However, Mueller detailed in his report that his investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
When Kevin McCarthy took over as speaker of the House of Representatives, he removed Schiff from his post as chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
Today’s partisan and failed attempt to censure me is a badge of honor that I will wear proudly.
MAGA Republicans are going after me because I dared to hold Donald Trump accountable.
These efforts to intimidate me will not succeed. I will always defend our democracy.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 14, 2023
New motion
"See you next week Adam," Rep. Luna stated on her Twitter account after Wednesday's vote. In the same message, she announced that he will soon present a new motion of censure against Schiff with the same objective as the previous one. Regarding the 20 Republicans who voted against her initiative, Luna assured that "some did not accurately read the bill."
20 Republicans voted w/ Dems to stop the ethics investigation, censure, & fine of Adam Schiff.
So there is no confusion (as some did not accurately read the bill) I will be filing a privileged motion to censure & send Schiff to ethics for investigation.
See you next week Adam.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 14, 2023
In the history of the House of Representatives, only 24 members have suffered the consequences of censure resolutions such as the one Luna filed against Schiff. The latest was Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, who posted an animation showing him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Before Gosar, in 2010, Charles Rangel was also sanctioned for false documentation.
