Schiff May be Censured for False Statement

Following the election of 2016, there was a shocked reaction by the Washington establishment to the victory of an exceptionally unorthodox presidential candidate. Even before Donald Trump was sworn in, moves to impeach him began, as government insiders circled their wagons against the will of the voters.

While extreme political bickering, including the threat of impeachment, is neither new nor illegal, there are two troubling aspects of the various moves to investigate and now, impeach the 45^th President.

First, the partisan involvement of the nation’s intelligence services is deeply disturbing. Second, the manufacturing of charges that are false, exaggerated, or misleading.

Despite the extreme nature of the moves against the White House since President Trump took office, Rep. Adam Schiff, (D-California 28^th District), Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, crossed a new line when he knowingly uttered blatantly false statements regarding the White House conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. When confronted, Schiff attempted to justify the false statements by calling them “a parody.”

On September 27, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona 5^th District) introduced a motion to condemn and censure Adam Schiff for his false retelling of the conversation between President Trump and Ukraine President Zelensky during a September 26 hearing on the “whistleblower complaint.”

According to Biggs: “During the [September 26] hearing, Chairman Schiff’s opening statement included a blatantly false retelling of President Trump’s conversation with the Ukrainian president. Democrats previously initiated an impeachment inquiry, which leads to one of the most serious, constitutional duties of Members of Congress: removal of the President of the United States. Through this process, if the President has committed high crimes or misdemeanors, Congress may overturn the election of the President and the will of the American people. It is therefore inexcusable to toy with the process and mislead the American public with such a statement.”

The text of the resolution follows:

H. Res. ___

Condemning and censuring Adam Schiff, Representative of California’s 28th Congressional District

In the House of Representatives

Mr. Biggs submitted the following resolution

RESOLUTION

Condemning and censuring Adam Schiff, Representative of California’s 28th Congressional District

Whereas, President Trump released the transcript of a call between him and the President of Ukraine;

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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;

Whereas, Chairman Schiff has gravely hindered the ability of the Intelligence Committee to fulfill its oversight responsibilities of the Intelligence Community, an indispensable pillar of our national security.

Resolved, That—

The House of Representatives censures and condemns Representative Adam Schiff for conduct that misleads the American people in a way that is not befitting an elected Member of the House of Representatives;
Representative Adam Schiff will forthwith present himself in the well of the House for the pronouncement of censure; and
Representative Adam Schiff will be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker.

Photo: Rep. Adam Schiff

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay