Motion To Censure Adam Schiff Gains Steam Among House Republicans
A motion to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, is gaining steam among Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, reports Fox News.
One hundred and twenty-five GOP lawmakers are now co-sponsoring the resolution introduced last month by Arizona Republican Andy Biggs, including top Republicans such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise.
Although the Democratic Party has control over the lower chamber, the GOP could still force a vote.
Much like President Donald Trump, House Republicans have taken issue with the way Schiff is handling the impeachment probe.
According to Biggs, Schiff “does not have the gravitas” an impeachment requires.
“He has repeatedly shown incredibly poor judgment. He has persistently and consistently demonstrated that he has such a tremendous bias and animus against Trump that he will say anything and accept any proffer of even bogus evidence to try to remove the president from office.”
Republican disdain for Schiff culminated after Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire’s testimony before Congress, during which the top Democrat deliberately exaggerated and misinterpreted the contents of the transcript of Trump’s call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, making a number of false and misleading claims.
He subsequently acknowledged the mistake, stating that his fictional account of the Trump-Zelensky phone call was “meant to be at least part in parody.”
His explanation did nothing to placate the Republicans led by President Trump, who have continued attacking the top Democrat, even accusing him of treason.
The standoff with Trump has turned Schiff into one of the central figures of the impeachment probe.
The House launched a formal impeachment inquiry following allegations that Trump had pressured Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. According to an anonymous whistleblower, Trump threatened to cut military aid unless Ukraine investigates the Bidens, in an apparent effort to damage the former vice president’s 2020 campaign.
The transcript of Trump’s call with Zelensky supports the whistleblower’s allegations, according to pro-impeachment Democrats.
According to a new CBS News poll, a majority of Americans (63 percent) believe the Trump administration should cooperate with the impeachment probe. However, voters remain divided along party lines, with only 16 percent of Republicans approving of the inquiry.
When it comes to the president’s actions regarding Ukraine and the Bidens, 29 percent of Americans believe they were “proper,” 27 percent think they were “not proper but legal,” and 44 percent believe they were illegal.
