When the previously Democrat-led House attacked then-President Donald Trump in any way they could think of, Republicans sat by seething in lower numbers.
Gaining the majority in the last mid-term election, Republicans have been quick to right matters, however, the split in the GOP between conservatives and RINOS, or self-proclaimed “moderates”, is coming to a head when voting over partisan actions.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was found to have lied about Trump’s ties to Russia and is still after the former president, most recently regarding the case of documents seized from Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. As in previous legal attacks, Trump is holding his own against the charges that he and other Republicans have maintained are political and baseless.
The documents “found” at the Trump residence (the FBI had previously visited the home and signed off on the storage of the documents_ were declared repeatedly by Trump to have been declassified by himself before he left the Oval Office, which is within the power of a sitting president.
Proof of the politicization of that attack against Trump is the fact that documents have found in the homes of other former officials, yet no charges against those persons have been levied. The documents found in Joe Biden’s garage date from the period when Biden was a vice-president and even senator. Those positions hold no declassifying power.
On Thursday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced House Resolution 437, which called for censuring Schiff and slapping him with a $16 million fine that the New York Post said was roughly half the cost of special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into “collusion” allegations involving then-President Donald Trump and Russia, Conservative Brief reports.
It said Schiff “abused this trust by citing evidence of collusion that — as is clear from reports by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and Special Counsel Durham — does not exist
“It is the obligation of House leadership to back up this motion for the American people and hold this feckless man accountable,” Luna said.
The attempt at censure failed, after 20 Republicans joined all Democrats. The measure failed by a vote of 225-196-7. But the matter is still on the table.
According to The Western Journal, online personality Rogan O’Handley — better known as “DC Draino” on Twitter — who is a friend of the congresswoman, told Steve Bannon on his “War Room” podcast that she confronted Schiff after the vote.
“She said she went up to Adam Schiff after the failed vote and said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m still going to be censuring you next week,’” O’Handley claimed.
“So she’s going to potentially drop the fine, file a new bill with the censure — and she told him right to his face. He didn’t say anything. He just walked away like a coward,” O’Handley noted further.
“@RepLuna went up to Schiff after the failed vote and said, don’t worry, I’m still going to be censuring you next week.”🔥 –@dc_draino https://t.co/iOb4wL8W1O pic.twitter.com/sqh69VdH6U
— Grace Chong 🇺🇸 (@gc22gc) June 14, 2023
Luna stated on Twitter:
“20 Republicans voted w/ Dems to stop the ethics investigation, censure, & fine of Adam Schiff. So there is no confusion (as some did not accurately read the bill) I will be filing a privileged motion to censure & send Schiff to ethics for investigation. See you next week Adam,” she tweeted.
Former President Trump spoke out on social media about the failed vote:
“Any Republican voting against his CENSURE, or worse, should immediately be primaried. There are plenty of great candidates out there.”
The GOP members who voted against the censure, who are considered RINOS, claimed that the fine is unconstitutional. In answer to that, O’Handley posted a section of the Constitution that appears to grant Congress the authority to do so.
He wrote:
Article 1, Section 5, clause 2 of the US Constitution: Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member RINO Cowards: “Giving Adam Schiff a fine is uNcOnStItUtIoNaL”
I hate how these RINOs lie to your faces about the constitutionality simply b/c they’re too afraid to battle the Marxists and Deep State This is why we call them the Coward 20.
I hate how these RINOs lie to your faces about the constitutionality simply b/c they’re too afraid to battle the Marxists and Deep State
This is why we call them the Coward 20 pic.twitter.com/VfFJ130A0X
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) June 16, 2023
Luna is not the only one actively after Schiff for his actions, Conservative Brief notes.
On Thursday, the conservative Center for Renewing America filed a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an investigation into Schiff over his repeated and false claims for years that he had evidence Trump was essentially a stooge for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The request 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,” the Washington Examiner reported.
“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 outlet added.
In its complaint, the Center for Renewing American requested that the ethics office “impose appropriate disciplinary and remedial action—up to and including expulsion” of Schiff.
