Thursday, Congressmen Bradley Byrne (R-Montrose) and Mike Rogers (R-Saks) both joined a resolution to condemn and censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-California). Byrne’s office said that the censure is for Schiff’s attempt during last week’s hearing on impeachment to mislead the public with a false retelling of a conversation between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky.
“Last week, Adam Schiff used his opening statement to pass off as real a completely fabricated retelling of President Trump’s phone conversation with the Ukrainian President,” Rep. Byrne said. “His imagined conversation is clearly and entirely contradicted by the transcript of the call – the same transcript House Democrats did not wait to receive before launching their phony impeachment efforts. Adam Schiff’s scheme to mislead the American people through lies and deception is just a further example of why this whole impeachment charade is a sham. The American people are sick of this political posturing, and the House should do all in its power to protect what integrity remains of this institution by formally condemning his behavior and ending this politically-motivated impeachment inquiry.”
“I am signing on to my colleague Congressman Andy Biggs resolution to censure House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff for literally making up his own version of President Trump’s phone conversation with Ukraine President Zelensky,” Rep. Rogers said. “Chairman Schiff peddled lies during the Russian hoax and now he is doing the same with the impeachment scam. This sort of petty behavior has no place in Congress.”
The resolution to formally condemn and censure Representative Adam Schiff was filed by U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-Arizona).
“Whereas, President Trump released the transcript of a call between him and the President of Ukraine; Whereas, President Trump subsequently released the whistleblower complaint of August 12, 2019; Whereas, in a September 26, 2019, hearing on the whistleblower complaint, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff purported to relay the content of the phone call to the American people; Whereas, instead of quoting directly from the available transcript, Chairman Schiff manufactured a false retelling of the conversation between President Trump and President Zelensky.”
“Whereas, this egregiously false and fabricated retelling had no relationship to the call itself; Whereas, these actions of Chairman Schiff misled the American people, bring disrepute upon the House of Representatives, and make a mockery of the impeachment process, one of this chamber’s most solemn constitutional duties; Whereas, for more than two years, Chairman Schiff has spread false accusations that the Trump Campaign colluded with Russia; Whereas on March 20, 2017, then Ranking Member Schiff read out false allegations from the Steele dossier accusing numerous Trump associates of colluding with Russia; Whereas, then-Ranking Member Schiff falsely claimed in a March 2017 interview to have ‘‘more than circumstantial evidence’’ of collusion with Russia; Whereas, then-Ranking Member Schiff negotiated with Russian comedians who he believed to be Ukrainian officials to obtain materials to damage the President of the United States politically; Whereas, members of the Intelligence Committee have lost faith in his objectivity and capabilities as Chairman, with every Republican member on the Committee having signed a letter calling for his immediate resignation as Chairman; and Whereas, Chairman Schiff has hindered the ability of the Intelligence Committee to fulfill its oversight responsibilities of the Intelligence Community, an indispensable pillar of our national security.”
Fox News contributor Karl Rove said of the impeachment inquiry: “If this is all they got, two-thirds of the Senate ain’t going along.”
“The rhetoric of House Democrats has made them appear inept—and
appearances aren’t always deceiving,” Rove said. “Consider Mr. Schiff’s stunt in opening the Intelligence Committee’s hearing on Mr. Trump’s conversation with the president of Ukraine. Mr. Schiff channeled his inner Martin Scorsese to revise the call’s transcript, adding new words to make it sound like a scene out of “Goodfellas.” He read his treatment to a national cable audience, only later admitting it was a “parody.””
“We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower,” Schiff told MSNBC’s Sam Stein. “We would like to. But I’m sure the whistleblower has concerns that he has not been advised, as the law requires, by the Inspector General or the Director of National Intelligence just as to how he is to communicate with Congress.”
It was later revealed that the so–called “whistleblower” had actually been working with Schiff and the staff of the House Intelligence Committee even before he or she filed their complaint.
Bradley Byrne represents Alabama’s First Congressional District. Mike Rogers represents Alabama’s Third Congressional District.
(Original reporting by Fox News, Breitbart News, and MSNBC contributed to this report.)
