OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A Republican lawmaker who has her sights set on seeing Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) booted out of Congress is redoubling her efforts.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) introduced House Resolution 437 on Thursday, 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.
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.
After 20 Republicans joined all Democrats, the measure failed by a vote of 225-196-7. However, Luna doesn’t appear ready to drop the matter.
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
She herself made a similar statement on Twitter after the failed vote.
“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.
Republicans who voted against the measure claimed that the fine is unconstitutional. But later, 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
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.
