Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said Thursday that Republicans will try again to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., for making “false accusations” against former President Trump, after the House voted down a censure resolution against Schiff on Wednesday.
In that vote, 20 Republicans rejected Luna’s censure resolution, in part because it recommended a $16 million fine against Schiff for telling “lies” about collusion between former President Trump and Russia, something that several investigations were never able to prove. Luna says that number is roughly half the cost of investigating Trump, probes that were never able to show collusion.
One lawmaker, Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., said the inclusion of language about fining Schiff violates the Constitution. Because Massie and several other Republicans opposed that language, the House voted 225-196 to set the censure resolution aside.
But Luna, R-Fla., said Thursday that she reached an agreement with those 20 Republicans on new censure language and said the House is expected to vote on it soon.
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“We came to terms and negotiations and the language that will censure and refer him to an ethics investigation because of the fact that he knowingly used his position as the chairman of House Intelligence to lie to the American people, to lie to his fellow colleagues, and also too, violated the rights, the civil liberties of individuals like Carter Page,” Luna told FOX Business. “So he will be held accountable.
“And it brings me joy to see that he thinks that, you know, even just yesterday, that he got off the hook with it because he was singing a different tune,” she added. “And he was very uncomfortable when I saw him in the hallways of Congress to let him know that he would be censured next week.”
A spokesperson for Luna also told Fox News that the congresswoman has “agreed upon language with our 20 colleagues and looks forward to holding Schiff responsible for bringing dishonor to our country and the House of Representatives.”
When asked Thursday about the possibility of another censure vote, Schiff accused Republicans of helping Trump distract the public from his ongoing legal battles about holding classified documents.
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“This is what it takes to gratify Donald Trump,” said Schiff. “She obviously wants to distract from the president’s legal troubles, and you‘ve got the MAGA people like Steve Bannon who are out promoting this.”
A draft of Luna’s new resolution obtained by Fox News makes no mention of a fine against Schiff and also drops language accusing him of telling “lies” about Trump-Russia collusion. Instead, the new language notes several times that Schiff made “false” statements and allegations about Trump colluding with Russia to win the 2016 election.
“For years, Representative Schiff has spread false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia,” it reads.
“On March 20, 2017, Representative Schiff perpetuated false allegations from the Steele Dossier accusing numerous Trump associates of colluding with Russia into the Congressional Record,” it adds.
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“As ranking minority member and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Representative Schiff behaved dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions, including by publicly, falsely denying that his staff communicated with a whistleblower to launch the first impeachment of President Trump,” the draft reads.
The resolution concludes by saying Schiff is censured for “misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming” of member of the House. It says Schiff will “present himself in the well of the House” and will be censured by a public reading of the resolution, and says the House Committee on Ethics will investigate Schiff’s “falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.”
