Rep. Adam Schiff’s congressional colleagues are expected to decide this week whether to censure him and levy a $16 million fine for his role in investigations into alleged ties between former President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
Introduced on Tuesday, June 13 — the same day Trump was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House — the four-page resolution accuses Schiff of “citing evidence of collusion that … does not exist.”
Related: Lawmaker with Southern California roots moves to expel Rep. Adam Schiff from Congress
Schiff, the previous chair of the House Intelligence Committee and who is running for the U.S. Senate, has accused Trump’s first presidential campaign of colluding with Russia.
Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has Southern California ties, is behind the measure. The $16 million fine, according to her office, amounts to half the cost of the Russia investigation.
In a letter to his colleagues Tuesday, Schiff called the effort a “terrible misuse of House precedent and resources” as well as “a clear attack on our constitutional system of checks and balances.”
“As honored as I am to have earned their enmity, attempting to censure those who defend the Constitution against a corrupt president sets a dangerous precedent,” Schiff said in the letter obtained by the Southern California News Group.
On social media, Schiff — a Democrat whose district includes Burbank, parts of the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Hollywood and West Hollywood– suggested the resolution was filed to distract from Trump’s indictment and to “retaliate against me for impeaching him.”
A censure vote signals the House’s “deep disapproval” of a member’s conduct and is considered a step below expulsion.
Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar was the last representative to be censured, in 2021, after he posted a fake…
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