At least 125 Republicans have co-sponsored a resolution to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for his "parody" of the phone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian president that triggered the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.
In a hearing last month, Schiff characterized "the essence" of Trump's message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as: "We've been very good to your country. Very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what, I don't see much reciprocity here.
"I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you, though and I'm gonna say this only seven times, so you better listen good," Schiff continued. "I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of it ... on this and on that."
After criticism from colleagues, Schiff later claimed his version of the call was a "parody."
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Fox News reports 125 lawmakers support a censure resolution proposed by U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Several key leaders are cosponsors, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
"Schiff simply does not have the gravitas that a weighty procedure such as impeachment requires," Biggs wrote in an opinion piece published by FoxNews.com. "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."
Schiff claimed his version of the transcript was "the message that the Ukraine president was receiving."
McCarthy charged Schiff, who claimed for two years to have evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, "has been lying to the American people for years."
"Now he is so desperate to damage the president that he literally made up a false version of a phone call," McCarthy said. "Enough is enough."
President Trump, who calls the congressman "Shifty Schiff," urged him to resign, saying he "lied to Congress and attempted to defraud the American public."
Democrats accuse Trump of using the power of his office to persuade a foreign nation to influence the 2020 presidential election. According to a transcript of the July phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to "look into" Hunter Biden's profiting from the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma while his father was Obama's point man for Ukraine policy.
The White House argues the subsequently released transcript shows there was no quid pro quo and points out the president has the authority to discuss with a foreign leader a case of alleged corruption that could impact national security.
Hunter Biden was being paid at least $50,000 a month by Burisma while it was under investigation for corruption. Joe Biden, as vice president, is on video boasting of successfully pressing Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma by threatening to withhold U.S. aid.
At the hearing, Schiff's fictional version of the call transcript included: "I'm going to put you in touch with people, and not just any people. I'm going to put you in touch with the attorney general of the United States – my attorney general, Bill Barr – he's got the whole weight of American law enforcement behind him. And I'm going to put you in touch with Rudy, you're going to love him. Trust me. You know what I'm asking so I'm only going to say this a few more times, in a few more ways. And don't call me again. I'll call you when you've done what I asked."
In opening statement, Rep. Schiff makes up dialogue to represent what Trump said to Zelensky. A rough transcript of the president's words exists, and is available, but Schiff's version is more dramatic. pic.twitter.com/f7gS4KIPge
— Byron York (@ByronYork) September 26, 2019
Twitter news aggregator Twitchy commented that Schiff "clearly wanted those watching (and the media subsequently reporting what he said) to believe he was reading directly from the call transcript, but instead Schiff was in fact taking liberties – and lots of them."
The video:
Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (CA) admits that his blatant fabrication of quotes from Trump's Ukraine call was "wrong" after he got called out
Schiff claims it was a "parody"
Impeachment is a politically polarizing event and Schiff thinks it's just a big joke
Absolutely unreal pic.twitter.com/YqcQscCKYt
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 26, 2019