Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced a measure to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), seeking to condemn the California Democrat over his claims of Russian collusion in the 2016 election and to pressure him to leave office.
Luna filed the privileged motion on Tuesday, seeking to remove Schiff from office and slap him with a $16 million fine over allegations he abused the trust of his constituents by pushing claims that Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential race to help elect former President Donald Trump.
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“Schiff just hit the fan,” Luna said in a tweet.
The motion comes after Schiff, who previously led the House Intelligence Committee, pushed unproven allegations of Trump-Russia collusion for years and touted British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier. Those claims came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year after the release of the Durham report, which concluded the FBI had no proper basis for launching the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Trump and Russia in 2016.
The report ultimately concluded the investigation was inherently flawed as there was no proper basis to conduct it in the first place, and it also found that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign played an outsize role in pushing collusion claims to the media and to the FBI.
Schiff rejected the motion, calling the resolution a “terrible misuse of House precedent and resources” and an “attack” on the Constitution.
“Our GOP colleagues are using the leverage and resources of the House majority to rewrite history and promulgate far-right conspiracy theories — all to protect and serve Donald Trump,” Schiff said in a letter to colleagues. “This resolution plainly demonstrates the lengths our GOP colleagues will go to protect Donald Trump’s infinite lies — lies that incited a violent attack on this very building.”
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A censure vote does not remove a lawmaker from office, nor does it hold any real punishment. Rather, the move is a symbolic vote to express dissatisfaction toward a lawmaker over their voting record or personal conduct. However, the move could come back to haunt Schiff as he runs to replace the retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in the Senate.
Luna’s motion to censure builds on previous efforts from the congresswoman to expel Schiff from office, according to a separate resolution filed last month. The House is set to hold a procedural vote on Wednesday to decide how to move forward, with Democrats likely seeking to table the motion.
