Adam Schiff’s Censure Is The Bare Minimum

Tristan Justice reporting for The Federalist 

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has been at the center of every left-wing hoax orchestrated against former President Donald Trump since 2016. From the trumped-up claims of Russian collusion to a fabricated scandal over military aid in Ukraine to the conspiracies surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as a desperate effort to impeach, Schiff has been the primary conductor.

So on Wednesday, hours after John Durham detailed the special counsel’s findings in the Russia hoax investigation before the House Judiciary Committee, the lower chamber formally censured Schiff, who is presently seeking a seat in the Senate. The resolution passed 213-209, with all Republicans voting in favor except for six who voted “present.”

Democrats erupted in the well of the House, chanting “shame” and “disgrace” as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy slammed the gavel upon the vote. The resolution forced Schiff to stand before lawmakers embarrassingly and requires the House Ethics Committee to probe the congressman’s “falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.” Schiff, however, went on to shamelessly celebrate the resolution on the House floor.

“To my Republican colleagues who introduced this resolution, I thank you,” he said ahead of the Wednesday night vote. “Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful.”

Schiff is now the 25th representative in congressional history to be censured by the House.

The formal measure, however, introduced by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is the least Republicans could do. After Schiff polarized the country for years and undermined U.S. relations with a nuclear superpower, lawmakers ought to vote on expulsion. Members on the House Ethics Committee now tasked with investigating Schiff’s tenure should consider such a recommendation.

In January, McCarthy booted Schiff from the Intelligence Committee in one of his first moves presiding over the Capitol chamber.

“I am committed to returning the [House Intelligence Committee] to one of genuine honesty and credibility that regains the trust of the American people,” McCarthy said at the time.

It’s not Schiff’s lying that earned him a lost committee assignment and a formal censure. If lying warranted expulsion from Congress, we’d have no legislature. It’s that as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee with access to the nation’s top secrets, Schiff abused his leadership perch to orchestrate hoax after hoax against the democratically elected president for the apparent crime of winning the 2016 election. His conduct sowed nationwide division, jeopardized national security, and undercut the legitimacy of the House. Now he expects a promotion from California voters to a seat in the Senate when he doesn’t even deserve an office on Capitol Hill.