Six Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives abstained from voting in favor of censuring Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff.
The censure resolution was introduced by Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has expressed her belief that Schiff should be removed from Congress based on allegations from the Durham report.
The six Republicans who chose to vote “present” rather than endorse the censure were Rep. David Joyce from Ohio, Rep. Michael Guest from Mississippi, Rep. Andrew Garbarino from New York, Rep. Ken Buck from Colorado, Rep. John Rutherford from Florida, and Rep. Michelle Fischbach from Minnesota.
Luna issued a statement explaining her stance, saying, “Adam Schiff lied to the American people. He used his position on House Intelligence to push a lie that cost American taxpayers millions of dollars and abused the trust placed in him as Chairman. He is a dishonor to the House of Representatives. The Durham Report makes clear that the Russian Collusion was a lie from day one and Schiff knowingly used his position in an attempt to divide our country.”
In an additional move, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy blocked Adam Schiff from serving on the House Intelligence Committee. Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz also introduced legislation calling for a House vote on whether Schiff should be prohibited from accessing and viewing any classified information.
The motion ultimately passed with a vote of 213-209, with every Democratic voting “no” and all Republicans but the aforementioned six voting “yes.”
The vote was tumultuous and full of heckling from both sides, with Democrats shouting that the procedure was a “disgrace” and “pathetic.” The censure marks Schiff as only the third congressional representative to be censured in this century. Schiff joins the ranks of Rep. Charles Rangel and Rep. Paul Gosar. He has been referred to the House Ethics Committee for a probe.
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