In a party-line vote of 218 to 185, the Democrat-led House of Representatives voted Monday evening to table a resolution to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, (D-CA) for his handling of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
All Democrats voted to table the censure resolution—which was introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ)—and all Republicans voting against tabling.
➡️ 184 Members of Congress have cosponsored my motion to condemn and censure Adam Schiff.
➡️ Here's the list of members who are holding Chairman Schiff accountable for misleading the American people. pic.twitter.com/7ARbVvghH7
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) October 21, 2019
Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party earlier this year to become an Independent, voted with Democrats to table the resolution.
Republicans were hoping to punish the embattled chairman for misleading the public about the President Trump’s alleged involvement with Ukraine.
During his opening statement at the hearing with acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, Schiff last month misquoted the transcript from the phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an attempt to make the president sound like a mafia boss.
“Adam Schiff should absolutely be censured this evening AND THEN SOME for the absolutely disgraceful manner he is conducting this “impeachment inquiry,” tweeted Rep Lee Zeldin (R-NY) ahead of the vote. “The lies, the leaks, the withholding of key facts and so much more will be a permanent stain that will not soon be forgotten.”
Adam Schiff should absolutely be censured this evening AND THEN SOME for the absolutely disgraceful manner he is conducting this “impeachment inquiry”. The lies, the leaks, the withholding of key facts and so much more will be a permanent stain that will not soon be forgotten.
— Lee Zeldin (@LeeMZeldin) October 21, 2019
Republicans realized ahead the vote that Democrats would join in lock-step to kill the resolution, but wanted a vote to put Democrats on the record defending “Shifty Schiff.”
“Adam Schiff may not have been held accountable tonight, but the American people are very much aware of his reckless disregard for the truth,” said Rep. Biggs on Twitter Monday night.
Adam Schiff may not have been held accountable tonight, but the American people are very much aware of his reckless disregard for the truth. They will not tolerate his calculated words and actions as he continues his secret impeachment inquiry to undermine the will of Americans. pic.twitter.com/mVp5DMTy4g
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) October 21, 2019
“I imagine that the Democrats are going to kill the bill to censure Adam Schiff because this whole thing is a political hit job against the president,” Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., said on Fox News’ “Your World” with Neil Cavuto. “Adam Schiff… has for two years said he had proof that the president colluded with Russians — that turned out to be false in the Mueller report. Then, made up… what President Trump said to the Ukrainian president, trying to deceive the American public,” Lesco added.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) slammed Schiff on Twitter for conducting more “secret depositions” this week.
“We’ve done 5 so far, and the Democrats’ impeachment goal hasn’t advanced,” he tweeted. “They don’t have a case. Every day it’s more clear what this whole charade is really about: the high crime of President Trump winning the 2016 election.”
More secret depositions begin this week. We’ve done 5 so far, and the Democrats’ impeachment goal hasn’t advanced. They don’t have a case.
Every day it’s more clear what this whole charade is really about: the high crime of President Trump winning the 2016 election
— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) October 21, 2019
After the vote Monday night, Rep Liz Cheney (R-WY) accused Democrats of being complicit in Schiff’s “repeated and intentional attempts to deceive the American people in a broader effort to attack President Donald Trump.”
Today's move by House Democrats to block a vote on a resolution censuring Adam Schiff makes them complicit in his repeated and intentional attempts to deceive the American people in a broader effort to attack President Donald Trump. https://t.co/j7vsGlSv83
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) October 21, 2019
During an appearance on Fox news, Monday evening, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, called the Democrat’s impeachment gambit a “phony” inquiry that is being conducted in secret to compile a negative dossier on the president.
“They don’t have the votes,” Nunes told host Martha MacCallum Monday night. “People need to understand that we—even as Republicans on the Intelligence Committee—we do not have access to the transcript. This is unprecedented in history here—at least in the time that I’ve been here.”
Typically, you conduct the interview, the Republicans get a transcript, the Democrats get a transcript, and the witness gets a transcript,” Nunes continued. “We’re not being given those transcripts anymore,” he added.
The congressman went on to explain how Democrats will eventually be forced to come down off of their “impeachment high” once it’s time to put all of their cards on the table.
He pointed out that “the whistleblower’s” testimony is no longer desired (since it became known that Schiff’s staff met with him ahead of time).
“We had Ambassador Volker and Ambassador Sondland last week,” he continued. “No evidence there that they were involved in this supposed conspiracy. So the facts aren’t adding up for the Democrats.
Right now they can be on an impeachment high … because all of the mainstream media is just throwing gasoline on this fire, but eventually the truth comes out and right now, there’s a lot of hearsay, there’s no transcripts, there’s unprecedented secrecy.
Nunes accused the Democrats of perpetrating a “Ukraine hoax” on the American people much like the Russia hoax, and said all of the witnesses so far have been unable to corroborate what the anti-Trump “Whistleblower” has alleged.