Congresswoman Introduces Resolution to Fine Schiff $16M for Spreading False Info About Trump-Russia Collusion
GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida introduced a resolution Tuesday to censure and fine Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California $16 million for repeatedly lying about then-President Donald Trump colluding with Russia.
Schiff was a ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence when he told MSNBC in 2017 that after reviewing the information he had, “there is more than circumstantial evidence” that Trump colluded with Russia.
That same year, Schiff said, “You really have to be trying to look away to say there’s no evidence of collusion here,” and told CNN the proof of Russia collusion is “pretty damning.”
Luna’s resolution begins noting that Special Counsel John Durham’s report released last week detailed how the Russia collusion narrative was a fabrication of Trump’s political rivals, including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, during the 2016 presidential election.
Luna’s resolution also highlighted that Schiff, as ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, had access to sensitive intelligence most members of Congress do not, but he did not act accordingly.
“Schiff abused this trust by citing evidence of collusion that — as is clear from reports from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Special Counsel Durham — does not exist,” Luna’s resolution states.
The freshman congresswoman further noted that Schiff read portions of the discredited Steele dossier into the Congressional Record at an Intelligence Committee hearing in March 2017.
Luna went on to cite Schiff’s “concocted rendition” of Trump’s 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of the-then chairman of the Intelligence Committee’s efforts to impeach Trump.
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Luna concluded that given the Mueller investigation cost the American taxpayers $32 million and that Schiff played a role in promoting it through “lies, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information,” he should be censured and fined $16 million, half the cost of the probe.
This will be a privileged motion to censure & a $16 million dollar fine (half the cost of the Russia hoax investigation) meaning I WILL bring this vote to the house floor. I will not back down from this and I, along with my Republican colleagues, look forward to holding Schiff… pic.twitter.com/m7Pra52bPA
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) May 23, 2023
Last week, Luna introduced a resolution to remove Schiff from Congress, given the findings of the Durham report.
“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,” she wrote.
Regarding Luna’s expulsion resolution, Schiff tweeted last week, “A MAGA Republican Member of Congress just filed a motion to expel me from the U.S. House of Representatives. I stood up to Donald Trump and held extreme MAGA forces accountable.”
BREAKING NEWS:
A MAGA Republican Member of Congress just filed a motion to expel me from the U.S. House of Representatives.
I stood up to Donald Trump and held extreme MAGA forces accountable. Now they want payback.
They’ll go after anyone who defends the rule of law.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) May 18, 2023
“Now they want payback,” he added. “They’ll go after anyone who defends the rule of law.”
In January after the Republicans took back control of the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed both Schiff and Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California from the Intelligence Committee.
