The House voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) over his role in pushing theories of Russian collusion in the 2016 election, marking a rare punishment that publicly condemns the California Democrat — possibly complicating his Senate bid in 2024.
The House on Wednesday voted 213-209 to censure Schiff, marking only the 25th time in the chamber’s history that a member has been formally condemned. However, the vote may only prove to help boost Schiff’s standing as he vies to replace the retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), with his campaign already using the censure for fundraising purposes.
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Schiff’s campaign team has capitalized on the censure vote in a slew of fundraising missives, sending nearly 20 emails mentioning the resolution since it was first introduced by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) in late May.
“They will never silence me — not now and not ever — but I need your help to fight back,” states one email that was sent just hours after the censure vote. “If you can, rush an urgent $3 contribution to our campaign right now to help us respond to this unprecedented political attack.”
“The GOP is doing everything they can to stop me because I haven’t stopped holding them accountable and fighting their corruption. And I never will,” reads another. “Help me fight back — here’s a link.”
Meanwhile, Schiff has sought to embrace the censure, telling reporters ahead of the vote he considers the move to be a form of flattery by his Republican colleagues.
“To my Republican colleagues who introduced this sham resolution: You honor me with your enmity. You flatter me with this falsehood,” Schiff said on the House floor ahead of the vote. “Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful.”
Luna filed the privileged motion on Tuesday, denouncing Schiff for his push of unproven allegations of Trump-Russia collusion while touting British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s discredited dossier. 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 report ultimately concluded the investigation was inherently flawed as there was no proper basis to conduct it in the first place, and it also found that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign played an outsize role in pushing collusion claims to the media and to the FBI.
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The original bill language included a $16 million fine, prompting 20 GOP lawmakers to object to the measure last week. Luna later removed that provision, securing the votes needed to pass the resolution on Wednesday.
Polling shows Schiff narrowly leading his top challengers for Feinstein’s Senate seat, with 15% of voters saying they plan to back him, according to a recent survey from Emerson College. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) came in a close second at 14%, with Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) straggling at 6%. Another 47% remain undecided.