After their attempt last week was blocked, House Republicans succeeded Wednesday in censuring Rep. Adam Schiff. The action was punishment for the California Democrat's support of past investigations into Donald Trump's connections to Russia. The vote was along party lines, 213-209, with six House members voting present, USA Today reports; the measure apparently picked up support after its sponsor removed a $16 million fine. Schiff is accused in the resolution of engaging in "falsehoods, misrepresentations and abuses of sensitive information." The measure's sponsor, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, said, "Adam Schiff launched an all-out political campaign built on baseless distortions against a sitting US president."
Schiff and his party expressed defiance. "I will not yield," Schiff said while the resolution was being debated. "Not one inch." He had said he would consider the censure "a badge of honor," and when it was time for him to come forward on the floor to be dishonored, Democrats went along, patting him on the back and cheering him. "Shame!" they chanted, along with "Adam! Adam!" They heckled Speaker Kevin McCarthy when he tried to read the resolution, eventually driving him from the chamber, per the Washington Post.
Before Wednesday, only two House members had been censured in the past four decades. More censures might well follow, per the New York Times, as Republicans seek to punish those they perceive as enemies. "You honor me with your enmity," Schiff told them on the House floor. Democrats said the censure was an attempt to cater to Trump and deflect from the former president's current legal troubles. "This is not a serious resolution," said Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean, but political theater to "distract from Donald Trump's history of transgressions and now indictments." (More censure stories.)
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