Rep. Adam Schiff was gloriously humiliated in the House of Representatives Wednesday evening as a vote to censure him for spewing Russia collusion misinformation for years passed by a vote of 213 to 209, with six voting “present.”
But was the California Democrat–nicknamed “Shifty Schiff” by his many detractors–deterred by the condemnation? Of course not. This is a man who will stare straight into the camera and silkily lay out untruth after untruth without batting an eye.
Instead, he had his own Spartacus moment, and as RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar reported, he took to the House floor before the vote to portray himself as some sort of national hero for undermining truth and democracy.
Watch if you can stomach the sheer audacity:
“To my Republican colleagues who introduced this resolution, I thank you. You honor me with your enmity, you flatter me with this falsehood,” he says in the speech. “You, who are the authors of a big lie about the last election, must condemn the truth tellers.
“And I stand proudly before you. Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful.”
Question: can you name a single thing, Schiff, that you have done that has done anything to “protect democracy?” Because it would seem that your only contribution to society was to help set off a wild goose chase to find incriminating evidence against former President Donald Trump–leading to a pathetic impeachment effort (led by none other than Adam Schiff), an effort that spectacularly imploded, and claims debunked by the Mueller report.
You’ve contributed to saving democracy exactly how?
But the pompous candidate for the U.S. Senate wasn’t done proclaiming his virtues.
And I say this to Speaker McCarthy and others who wish to gratify Donald Trump with this act of subservience or bend to his demands, try as you might to expel me from Congress or silence me with a $16 million fine. You will not succeed. You might as well make it $160 million.
You will never deter me from doing my duty, no.
He was referring to an earlier House effort by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to censure him that included a $16 million fine. That attempt was defeated because some Republicans felt the fine was unconstitutional, but Luna removed the language about the costly punishment to get them on board.
Shifty also pathetically tried to say that we shouldn’t talk about his misinformation campaign because his home state of California is under duress:
And yet this false and defamatory resolution comes at a considerable cost to the country and to the Congress at a moment when millions of people in our home state of California are unable to find a place to live or afford a place to live, Speaker McCarthy chooses to occupy the resources of Congress for two straight weeks on this hollow sop to the MAGA crowd.
He offers nothing to those who are homeless or addicted to opioids or to millions of college students mired in debt.
What he doesn’t mention is the fact the Golden State is foundering because of leftist policies endorsed by Democrat radicals like Gov. Gavin Newsom and Schiff himself. Or that California is a repository for the nation’s homeless because of all the money that is being minted by the Homeless Industrial Complex (aka Democrat allies). You’re a representative for California, Schiff–what have you done to improve life here? Because whatever it is, it ain’t working. Just ask all the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the state.
Schiff ended his tirade with not an ounce of self-awareness, again trying to portray himself as some sort of revolutionary hero, neglecting to mention that almost everything he has alleged has turned out not to be true:
Today I wear this partisan vote as a badge of honor, knowing that I have lived my oath, knowing that I have done my duty to hold a dangerous and out of control president accountable, and knowing that I would do so again in a heartbeat if the circumstances should ever require it.
The best part is that, like all politicians, he is already using this vote to fundraise, but true to form, he neglects to mention that he’s already shopping for a bigger, better job in the U.S. Senate:
I find Schiff to be one of the most odious members of Congress, and to see him take the podium and act as if he is a savior despite the fact that he failed to prove any of his many claims about Trump is frankly nauseating. Good for the GOP for censuring him.
California is full of political opportunists, but the hubris of Adam Schiff knows no bounds.
More coverage of Wednesday’s showdowns in the House:
Triggered Dems Erupt on House Floor as Adam Schiff’s House of Cards Tumbles Down
Kevin Kiley Shreds Schiff, Nadler, Lieu, and Swalwell–With Assist From John Durham