The House of Representatives voted in favor of censuring California Rep. Adam Schiff, who at the bidding of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, led the impeachment of former President Donald Trump based on accusations that he knew were false.
The move comes after a previous attempt to censure Schiff fell short due to having a $16 million fine attached to it, which made some Republicans balk. This time, it passed 213 to 209.
Alaska Representative Mary Peltola stuck with the Democrats again on Wednesday to try to block the final vote though a motion to table it, which failed on party lines. She also voted against the censure of one of her own.
Censure is a formal statement of disapproval by a legislative body, which, if passed, would serve as an official reprimand for the actions of the individual. Only 25 House members have been censured in U.S. history.
The censure says that in his role as impeachment manager, Schiff knowingly advanced lies about former President Trump, and “abused this trust by alleging he had evidence of collusion that, as is clear from reports by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Special Counsel Durham, never existed.”
The debate on the censure stretched into the afternoon, with former Speake Nancy Pelosi saying that Republicans had turned the House “into a puppet show.” The vote was final in the evening.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that as soon as Republicans took control this year, he removed Schiff from the Intelligence Committee and he looks forward to opening an ethics investigation into his activities. That investigation will now commence and take place during a time when Schiff is a filed candidate for Senate to fill the seat of the ailing Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, argued on the House floor that “Republicans are targeting Adam Schiff because he’s everything they wish he could be.”
Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Democrat, said, “Not only did Schiff purposely and knowingly lie to further the Democrats’ political agenda, he used $32 million of taxpayers’ money to push a fake Russia collusion narrative against President Trump. I’m joining Rep. Luna in in censuring this fraud and holding him accountable for his actions.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who represents Florida’s 13th District, was elected in 2022 and has wasted no time being influential in Washington. After her first censure effort failed, she brought it back again and won the support of all of her Republican colleagues.
