Category: Adam Schiff

Six takeaways from House committee assignments so far

Posted on (Updated by Julia Shapero

As members of the House continue to receive committee assignments for the new Congress, Republicans are shaking up several panels with their newly obtained majority.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has doubled down on promises to block certain Democrats from top panels, while several Republicans who played key roles in his long, drawn-out fight for Speaker have found their way onto prominent committees.

More committee assignments remain to be handed out, but here are the six main takeaways so far:

Greene, Gosar back on committees

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., joined at left by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) were placed back on committees on Tuesday, after having their committee assignments stripped in 2021.

Both Greene and Gosar were selected to sit on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, while Greene was also chosen to serve on the Homeland Security Committee and Gosar was picked to sit on the Natural Resources Committee.

Greene, who had reportedly lobbied for the spot on the Oversight committee, was a key supporter of McCarthy throughout his bid for Speaker. She was stripped of her committee assignments in February 2021, just one month after joining Congress, for espousing conspiracy theories and encouraging violence against Democratic officials on social media.

Gosar was censured and removed from his committees in November 2021, after he posted an anime-style video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and engaging in a sword fight with President Biden.

McCarthy sparks fresh anger with vow to keep Omar off Foreign Affairs

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks to reporters during a break in a House Democratic caucus meeting and leadership election on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 for the 118th session of Congress.

McCarthy has recently doubled down on his previous vows to keep Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off the Foreign Affairs Committee, sparking fresh anger among Democrats and Muslim advocacy groups.

Omar, one of three Muslim members of Congress, has been critical of the Israeli government and its supporters, leading to accusations of antisemitism.

“Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks,” McCarthy said in a tweet in November. “I'm keeping that promise.”

McCarthy reportedly told the GOP conference last week that he still plans to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Robert McCaw, the government affairs department director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called the decision to reinstate Greene and Gosar while threatening to remove Omar “absolute insanity and hypocrisy” in a statement on Wednesday. 

“Racism and Islamophobia would be the only explanation for this hypocritical double-standard,” McCaw said.

While McCarthy has promised to block Omar’s appointment, he cannot do so alone. In order to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, House Republicans would have to bring the matter to a vote on the House floor.

Schiff, Swalwell future on Intel panel still in peril

In this May 28, 2019 file photo, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., left, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speak with members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Reps. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) futures on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence also remain in peril, as McCarthy has similarly promised to boot both California Democrats from the powerful panel.

McCarthy has cited accusations that Schiff, the former chair of the Intelligence Committee, lied to the public about the extent of former President Trump’s ties to Russia during his 2016 campaign and exaggerated the central assertion of Trump’s first impeachment.

The first impeachment, which Schiff led, accused Trump of pressuring Ukrainian officials to investigate his political rivals by threatening to withhold aid.

In Swalwell’s case, McCarthy has pointed to his ties to an alleged Chinese spy who helped fundraise for the congressman in 2014. However, Swalwell reportedly cut ties with the individual after the FBI informed him of her identity.

Swalwell was also an impeachment manager for Trump’s second impeachment over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Schiff’s and Swalwell’s positions on the Intelligence Committee are in a particularly precarious state, given that McCarthy can unilaterally reject their appointments without bringing a resolution to the House floor for a vote. 

Santos gets committee assignments

George Santos

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., departs after attending a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), the embattled first-term lawmaker who has admitted to lying about his background on the campaign trail, was seated on the Small Business Committee and Science, Space and Technology Committee on Tuesday.

McCarthy had confirmed last week that Santos would be seated on committees, even as several members of the Republican conference called for his resignation.

“I try to stick by the Constitution. The voters elected him to serve. If there is a concern, and he has to go through the Ethics [Committee], let him move through that,” McCarthy told reporters.

Santos is facing investigations on multiple fronts, as his claims about his background continue to unravel. The Nassau County district attorney and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York have both launched probes into the New York Republican, while Brazilian authorities reopened a fraud case against Santos from 2008.

Complaints have also been filed with the House Ethics Committee and Federal Election Commission over allegations that Santos falsified his financial disclosures and violated campaign finance laws.

McCarthy detractors get seats on Financial Services, Appropriations panels

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) addresses reporters after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) addresses reporters after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Several Republican members who opposed McCarthy’s bid for Speaker, drawing out the fight over a historic four days and 15 ballots, received seats on top House panels last week.

Of the 20 members of the anti-McCarthy group, Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) were both appointed to the Financial Services Committee, while Reps. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) found their way on to the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) also maintained his spot on the Financial Services Committee.

While GOP leadership has said that no members were promised committee assignments as part of its negotiations during the Speaker fight, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) noted last week that they did agree to ensure that “committees are represented by a whole swath of our membership.”

This has largely translated into providing hard-line conservatives with more spots on prominent committees. 

Foxx gets waiver to lead Education panel

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing examining the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing examining the policies and priorities of the Department of Labor on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) was selected to chair the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, after receiving a waiver from GOP leadership.

House GOP rules only permit members to serve as the head of a committee for three consecutive terms. As Foxx is beginning her fourth term as the top Republican on the education panel, she required a waiver to serve as chair.

McCarthy Speaker quest leaves balancing act on national security

Posted on (Updated by Rebecca Beitsch

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is toeing a delicate line on national security issues in the lame-duck session as he seeks to win enough votes on the House floor to win the Speakership in January.

McCarthy is torn between competing factions of the GOP as he weighs a series of moves targeting the Biden administration and other Washington Democrats in the next Congress — all while trying to convince conservative GOP lawmakers to back him for Speaker.

He’s vowed to boot California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off the House Intelligence Committee and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He’s also threatened to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the southern border.

And McCarthy has indicated he will withhold GOP support for a lame-duck vote on a bipartisan defense policy bill as a way to fight “wokeism” in the military.  

If the delay is successful, it would mark the first time in more than 60 years that has Congress failed to reauthorize Pentagon spending by the end of a calendar year; the delay would allow a GOP House to take it up next year.

Cyber Monday deals from BestReviews:

Democrats have blasted McCarthy’s plans to boot Democrats from panels as purely political, while Republicans say Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) set Congress on that slippery slope when House Democrats impeached former President Trump twice and later expelled two Republicans from their committee seats.

The House voted last year to punish Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for sharing an animated video showing him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) was removed months earlier for promoting the execution of leading Democrats before she was elected to office. 

McCarthy blamed Democrats for “this new standard.”

“Never in the history [of Congress] have you had the majority tell the minority who can be on committee,” McCarthy said at the start of 2022. “This is a new level of what the Democrats have done.”

For Schiff, McCarthy has zeroed in on his role in the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia, accusing him of lying to the public about the former president’s ties to Moscow and Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine. He’s bashed Swalwell for his ties to a Chinese spy with whom he cut off contact after being warned of her true identity by the FBI.

Schiff said his targeting is nothing more than an effort by McCarthy to win support for his Speakership bid.

McCarthy was elected Speaker-designate in a closed-door GOP conference vote, but lost 31 votes. He will need to win over many of them to be elected Speaker on the House floor.

“McCarthy’s problem is not with what I have said about Russia. McCarthy’s problem is, he can’t get to 218 without Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz,” Schiff said Sunday during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union." 

“And so he will do whatever they ask. And, right now, they’re asking for me to be removed from our committees. And he’s willing to do it. He’s willing to do anything they ask.”

The Mayorkas fight reflects the awkward line that McCarthy is trying to walk.

He courted conservative votes last week by vowing an investigation of Mayorkas but did not fully embrace an impeachment vote, allowing himself wiggle room to change his mind next year.

“If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate. Every order, every action and every failure will determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy said at a press conference in El Paso, Texas.

In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) expressed doubt the GOP would be able to impeach Mayorkas swiftly.

“You’ve got to build a case. You need the facts, evidence before you indict. Has he been derelict in his responsibilities? I think so,” he said.

Other Republicans, however, want to go full steam ahead, suggesting anything short of Mayorkas’s removal would put the country’s security at risk.

“He needs to go,” Rep. Ronnie Jackson (R-Texas) told Fox News on Sunday. “We need to make an example of Mayorkas. And he will be just the start of what we do in this new Congress.”

Other Republicans have dismissed an impeachment vote as a stunt.

“It would basically be putting form over substance to go through a big performance on impeachment that’s never going anywhere,” former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a George W. Bush appointee, said over the weekend, “rather than actually working with the administration to solve the problem.”

McCarthy also faces divisions on delaying the defense bill, as some Republicans want to move forward and also pull back from threats to limit support for Ukraine. 

McCarthy says he wants to pump the breaks on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and another round of funding to aid Ukraine in its battle against Russia, saying he wouldn’t back a “blank check.”

“I’ve watched what the Democrats have done on many of these things, especially the NDAA — the wokeism that they want to bring in there,” McCarthy told reporters shortly after the midterms. “I actually believe the NDAA should hold up until the 1st of this year — and let’s get it right.”

McCarthy is far from the only Republican with complaints about the NDAA. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) put out a report slamming the “Woke Warfighters” of the Pentagon. But McCarthy is also facing pressure from the right.

“Let’s hold the bill hostage. Let’s leverage what we have,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who opposes McCarthy’s Speakership bid, recently said on a podcast. 

Democrats and the Biden administration argue a delay will hurt the military.

“If you kick it off four, five, six months, you are really damaging the United States military. So I hope Kevin McCarthy understands that,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said. “You are damaging the United States military every day past Oct. 1 that you don’t get it done, and certainly more so every day past" Jan. 1.

On Ukraine, some Republicans have bristled at the idea of holding back any funding as the country continues to make advances against Russia.

“We're going to make certain they get what they need,” House Intelligence Committee ranking member Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said in an appearance alongside McCaul.

“The fact is, we are going to provide more oversight, transparency and accountability. We're not going to write a blank check,” McCaul added. “Does that diminish our will to help the Ukraine people fight? No. But we're going to do it in a responsible way.” 

Top Republican says congressional investigations don’t have much credibility: ‘I blame Adam Schiff for that’

Posted on (Updated by Julia Mueller

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who is expected to become chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee next year, said he blames Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for what he sees as lowered credibility of congressional probes. 

Schiff chairs the House Intelligence Committee and sits on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — and the California lawmaker also led the first impeachment effort against former President Trump.

“I don’t believe congressional investigations have a whole lot of credibility right now. I blame Adam Schiff for that,” Comer told Punchbowl News in an interview published Wednesday. 

“But it’s also both parties to blame for investigations in the past. But I really want to change that,” said Comer.

The top Republican is among many in the party planning to take advantage of the GOP’s takeover of the House majority to investigate topics like the origins of COVID-19, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, the country’s messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and President Biden’s son Hunter Biden and the family’s business dealings.

Comer is gearing up to take leadership of the House Oversight and Reform Committee from outgoing Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who has been leading the panel in a probe into Trump’s mishandling of presidential records.

Comer told Punchbowl News that he won’t “abuse the subpoena ability” when he assumes the chair position, and that the panel will be “very selective” in issuing subpoenas.

 “So when you get a specific subpoena from Oversight when I’m chairman, then it’s going to mean something,” Comer said.

Top Dem Nadler Knew Trump Impeachment Process Was ‘Unconstitutional’ But Schiff and Pelosi Dismissed Him

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Powerful Democrat Representative Jerry Nadler was reportedly convinced the process behind the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump was “unconstitutional” and tried warning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and fellow Rep. Adam Schiff, only to be rebuffed.

The extraordinary accounting comes from excerpts of a new book titled, “Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump​.”

Fox News, which obtained the excerpts, reports that Nadler had issues with how Schiff (D-CA) was planning to run impeachment proceedings, particularly concerned that the then-President was not being afforded due process.

The New York Democrat was so concerned, the book’s authors reveal, that he told Schiff the process is “unfair, and it’s unprecedented, and it’s unconstitutional.”

RELATED: Schiff: Impeachment Necessary to Stop Trump In 2020

Nadler: Trump Impeachment is Unconstitutional

Despite Nadler’s initial concerns, House Democrats impeached former President Trump on the basis of a July 25, 2019, phone call between he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump, according to transcripts of the call, asked Zelensky to “look into” Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Trump maintained that nothing untoward took place during the conversation.

Schiff, who seemed unconcerned about potential constitutional violations of Trump’s rights during the impeachment proceedings, responded to Nadler’s concerns by saying, “I don’t appreciate your tone.”

He also said, “I worry you’re putting us in a box for our investigation.”

Nadler’s warnings persisted.

“If we’re going to impeach, we need to show the country that we gave the president ample opportunity to defend himself,” he demanded.

The Fox News report indicates again that Pelosi and Schiff were less concerned with due process and more concerned that Trump’s lawyers, if allowed to convey their own messages during the proceedings, would hurt Biden’s chances of being elected.

“F*** Donald Trump,” Schiff’s team is accused of saying.

Pelosi, meanwhile, was arguing that Americans weren’t going to understand the complexity of the impeachment charges and that they’d have to carefully construct the narrative.

“We need to make the case more strongly that this is a national security issue,” Pelosi said, according to the book.

“Eighty percent plus say it’s not okay for the president to ask for foreign assistance [in an election] — despite Trump asserting that he can do it,” she added. “I just think we need to make this case to rural voters, evangelicals, and Republicans.”

RELATED: Watch: Schiff Confronted by George Stephanopoulus For Making Up Trump Quotes, Keeps Lying

Pelosi: If Trump Complains About Due Process, We’ll Ignore Him

The authors of the book contend that Pelosi’s strategy to combat concerns of due process were to simply ignore them.

“Let’s not give them any attention,” she allegedly said adding, “Democrats are giving Trump more rights than the Democrats had under the Clinton impeachment.”

Anybody who witnessed the show that was the impeachment proceedings knows Democrats were more concerned about stopping Trump from being re-elected than anything else.

Schiff, you may recall, argued that impeachment couldn’t wait at that time because Trump cheated in the 2016 presidential election and Democrats couldn’t afford for that to happen again.

“The argument, ‘why don’t you just wait?’ comes down to this,” Schiff claimed. “‘Why don’t you just let him cheat in just one more election? Why not let him have foreign help one more time?'”

Whoa. You heard that correctly. Schiff, very clearly denying the results of the 2016 presidential election.

Some would call that ‘insurrection.’

Schiff also completely fabricated quotes by President Trump during a congressional whistleblower hearing on the Ukraine controversy. Something so absurd even George Stephanopoulus called him out.

And while the proceedings were so “unfair” that Jerry Nadler had to call them out, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) came to the defense of Pelosi at the time.

“She’s able to do what she feels is right. That’s up to her,” Romney said in defending Pelosi. “At this stage, the process is to continue to gather information but clearly what we’ve seen from the transcript itself is deeply troubling.”

Of course, the narrative from that “deeply troubling” transcript was manipulated by anti-Trump lawmakers and media members from the start.

Nadler, somewhere along the line, went from accusing Schiff of conducting things unconstitutionally, to saying Senate Republicans, by not going along with the sham, were behaving in the same manner.

“If the Senate doesn’t permit the introduction of all relevant witnesses and of all documents that the House wants to introduce, because the House is the prosecutor here, then the Senate is — is engaging in an unconstitutional and disgusting cover-up,” he claimed.

He said that knowing what Democrats had just done in the House was ‘unconstitutional and disgusting.’

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) responded to those comments by alluding to what Nadler had previously argued about the process.

“We’re not going to do a kangaroo court, like they did in the House,” Paul fired back. “The House only produced witnesses that Adam Schiff agreed to.”

Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #3 on Feedspot’s “100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.”

The post Top Dem Nadler Knew Trump Impeachment Process Was ‘Unconstitutional’ But Schiff and Pelosi Dismissed Him appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trey Gowdy Slams Media For Ignoring Pelosi’s ‘Open Duplicity When It Comes To Congressional Investigations’

Posted on by LifeZette

During his Fox News show on Sunday night, former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy blasted “partisan” media outlets for not holding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) accountable after she rejected multiple Republican lawmakers for her House commission investigating the January 6 Capitol riots.

Gowdy Sounds Off 

“The DC media tells us they ‘speak truth to power.’ They tell us ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness.’ They tell us they publish ‘All the News that is Fit to Print,’ and a host of other meaningless self-congratulatory platitudes, but they can’t question Pelosi on her open duplicity when it comes to congressional investigations,” Gowdy began.

Gowdy went on to remind his viewers of Pelosi’s questionable history regarding previous high-profile committee placements.

“She put Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on the Benghazi committee, even though his mind was fully made up, and he did everything he could to protect the Democrat nominee for president,” he argued. “That was his job. Not to interview survivors, not to access information, not to ascertain why the military did not respond in a timely manner, but protect Hillary Clinton. Pelosi picked him despite his bias.”

Related: Trey Gowdy Annihilates Squad-Member Cori Bush For Spending $70K On Private Security While Pushing Defund The Police

Gowdy Doubles Down 

Not stopping there, Gowdy said that Pelosi also tapped Schiff to investigate former President Donald Trump over Russia collusion allegations, “even though Schiff misstated evidence, prejudged the outcome and claimed to have evidence he never produced.”

“She picked Schiff to lead the prosecution in a failed impeachment trial, even though Schiff misstated facts, misrepresented a meeting with the whistleblower, and manufactured evidence during a committee hearing…Pelosi picked him anyway,” he continued.

Months after that, Pelosi let Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) keep his seat on the House Intelligence Committee even though reports came out that he’d had a close relationship with a Chinese spy.

Despite this, Pelosi rejected Trump allies Republican Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-IN) from her commission investigating the Capitol riot.

“There is not a single cop, prosecutor or judge who would be allowed to remain on those cases if he or she did what Schiff, Swalwell… or the others did. Not one,” Gowdy said. “She picked her own biased members but she rejected Jim Jordan. Jordan is the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, he was on the Intelligence Committee, which has more access to more sensitive information than any committee in Congress.”

Related: Gowdy Torches Anti-American Protesters – Remember ‘Those Who Would Give Everything They Have’ To Be Here

Gowdy Let’s Loose 

That’s when Gowdy really went off on Pelosi.

“Jordan has participated in previous investigations, he worked hard, and he didn’t leak, which is more than I could say for many of his colleagues,” Gowdy said. “But whether you like Jim Jordan or not is irrelevant, whether you think the previous investigations or even the current investigations are appropriate is beside the point, Congress has the power and often responsibility to investigate, it should be fair.”

“It is fair to ask, why Democrat members of congress are free to prejudge evidence…run against the person they are investigating….and yet they are qualified for service on an investigative committee, but Jim Jordan is not?” he questioned. 

“That is the question,” he added. “Why Schiff and not Jordan? Why Swalwell and not Jordan? Why is it your members can have their minds already made up, but somehow that is disqualifying for the other side?”

“It’s the sort of question a serious objective media would ask.… but the modern media in this country is just as partisan as politicians themselves,” he concluded. “‘Truth to Power,’ they claim. ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness,’ they claim. Well,” he said, “it doesn’t do well in the slew of hypocrisy either, that is where we are right now, and in no small part because the referee is just as partisan as the players.

This piece was written by James Samson on August 2, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
A Biden Lockdown On The Way?
MSNBC Host Nicolle Wallace Claims Trump Is In Trouble Due To Alleged ‘Smoking Gun’ New Evidence
CDC Admits 74% Of People Who Tested Positive For COVID In Massachusetts Outbreak Were Fully Vaccinated

The post Trey Gowdy Slams Media For Ignoring Pelosi’s ‘Open Duplicity When It Comes To Congressional Investigations’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Cryin’ Adams: Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger, Dem Adam Schiff Nearly Cry During Capitol Riot Hearing

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Adam Schiff became emotional during yesterday’s hearing for the House select committee’s investigation into the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

Call them the Cryin’ Adams.

The committee held their first hearing since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to allow two supporters of former President Trump on the panel.

The hearing involved opening statements from the exclusively anti-Trump group, as well as compelling testimony from four police officers who defended the Capitol that day.

The officers themselves were surprisingly emotional and demanded lawmakers address the possibility that Republicans inspired the protest and subsequent riot.

U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Private First Class Harry Dunn placed blame squarely at the feet of the former President.

“This wasn’t the first time that … the MAGA people came up here to the Capitol,” Dunn said. “There were some skirmishes but it was never an attempt to overthrow democracy.”

“The only difference that I see in [Jan. 6] is that they had marching orders so to say,” he claimed.

RELATED: GOP Rep. Defends Capitol Police Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt: ‘You Did What You Had To Do’

Kinzinger Gets Emotional

Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), recently named as an acceptable replacement for people with opposing viewpoints on this one-sided panel, kicked off the melodrama.

The aggressively anti-Trump congressman fought back tears at several points as he described his view of the events.

“Democracies are not defined by our bad days,” Kinzinger waxed poetic. “We’re defined by how we come back from bad days. How we take accountability for that.”

“We may have our deep differences on other policy issues, but we are all Americans today,” he said, eyes puffy, biting his lip. “And we thank you for holding that line.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has referred to Kinzinger and fellow Trump-hater Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) as “Pelosi Republicans” and is considering punishment for their role on the select committee.

Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), in particular, would like to see McCarthy give the pair the boot.

“I think they’ve left the Republican Party, based on their actions,” said Good. “I think that they should be removed from their committees as Republicans.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) accused the two of “effectively working for Pelosi” and suggested they be banned from private GOP conference meetings.

RELATED: McCarthy Considering Punishment For ‘Pelosi Republicans’ Cheney And Kinzinger

Schiff Gets Emotional

Adam Schiff (D-CA), the man who cried wolf so many times on RussiaGate and the impeachment trials that it’s hard to take him seriously, followed Kinzinger’s shtick with a little drama of his own.

“If we’re so driven by bigotry and hate that we attack our fellow citizens as traitors if they’re born in another country, or they don’t look like us, then God help us,” Schiff said, visibly emotional.

“But I have faith because of folks like you,” he continued, addressing the officers. “I didn’t expect this could be quite so emotional either but it must be an ‘Adam’ thing today.”

If anything, the common denominator here isn’t the name ‘Adam,’ it’s the name ‘Trump.’

A name so powerful it reduced two grown men to near tears. It was a ‘Trump thing’ yesterday.

We hope Kinzinger and Schiff were able to recover from their emotional breakdown, perhaps drawing a warm bath as the evening was winding down, enjoying a few chapters of The Bridges of Madison County, kicking back in their little ‘No Insurrections Allowed’ swim caps.

Make no mistake, this soap opera will be going on for months before the select committee comes to their predetermined conclusion that Trump is a traitor.

 

 

Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #16 on Feedspot’s “Top 70 Conservative Political Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2021.”

 

 

The post Cryin’ Adams: Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger, Dem Adam Schiff Nearly Cry During Capitol Riot Hearing appeared first on The Political Insider.

Schiff Claims GOP Is A Trump Cult – Says They Have No Ideology Or Principles

Posted on by LifeZette

House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) went on MSNBC on Thursday to attack the Republican Party, saying that the GOP is now a Trump cult with no ideology or principles.

Joy Reid Interviews Schiff

“Congressman Schiff, do we need to start having a serious conversation not just about Donald Trump being a bad guy, but about the Republican Party becoming a radicalized anti-democratic institution?” asked host Joy Reid.

‘Because you can’t have a regular party like the Democrats who have their flaws, and we can have an issue with them and a party that is willing to seize the power by force?” she added. “Because that’s what that sounded like it to me.”

Schiff Responds

“That’s absolutely right. I think the managers they’re talking about Donald Trump because he’s the one on trial, and that makes perfect sense, but there are broader, serious problems with the GOP right now as a party,” Schiff replied.

“It has really become a cult of personality around the president,” he said. “It doesn’t have an ideology anymore. It doesn’t have principles anymore.”

“It’s willing to welcome in white nationalists and QAnon conspiracy theorists and people who use violence if they don’t get their way,” Schiff added. “That party needs to come to grips with what it’s become. It needs to be a party once again that stands for something and not just the cult around Donald Trump.”

Related: Report: Adam Schiff Could Be Next California AG – Or Run For Dianne Feinstein’s Senate Seat

Schiff Has Accused The GOP Of Being A ‘Cult’ Before

Democrats are trying to impeach Trump in the Senate, claiming that he incited the Capitol riots last month. If they succeed, Trump will not be allowed to run for office again in the future.

This is far from the first time that Schiff has accused the Republican Party of being “a cult.” At the end of January, he said that “the GOP leadership is becoming little more than a cult and a dangerous cult.”

Schiff went on to blast House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for visiting former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago this week.

“That is sadly where the GOP leadership is at in Congress, and that’s part of the reason why the Capitol looks like an armed fortress right now,” Schiff lamented.

Related: Adam Schiff Rips GOP Leaders As ‘Dangerous Cult’ Over Threats Made To Democrats

This piece was written by James Samson on February 12, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Jim Jordan Claims Democrats Are ‘Scared’ Of Trump
Lindsey Graham Predicts ‘Not Guilty’ Impeachment Votes Are Growing After ‘Absurd’ Arguments From Democrats
Gowdy Takes On House Impeachment Managers, Trump Livid

The post Schiff Claims GOP Is A Trump Cult – Says They Have No Ideology Or Principles appeared first on The Political Insider.

Adam Schiff Rips GOP Leaders As ‘Dangerous Cult’ Over Threats Made To Democrats

Posted on by LifeZette

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) blasted the Republican Party as a “dangerous cult” after it was reported that names of Democrat lawmakers were found on a list on the person of a man who was caught near the U.S. Capitol with a gun and ammunition.

Police arrested the 71 year-old man at the Capitol on Wednesday for possessing a pistol without a license after he was caught shouting at guardsmen. Officials said afterwards that the man had been at the Capitol riots and had posted memes related to the QAnon conspiracy theory on social media.

Schiff Attacks Republicans 

Schiff wasted no time in using this to fuel his own agenda as he attacked Republican leaders after CNN found several Facebook posts from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) calling for the execution of Democratic leaders.

“You look at some of these members, including Representative Greene, who have threatened on social media prior to her election other members of Congress,” Schiff told CNN host Wolf Blitzer.

“You have members like her who have suggested that attacks against students, murderous attacks on high school campuses like at Parkland were somehow fake, fraudulent, or false flag operations,” he added. “And they’re being rewarded by [House Minority Leader Rep.] Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with assignments on the education committee!”

“You know, the GOP leadership is becoming little more than a cult and a dangerous cult,” Schiff continued.

Greene has already responded by saying that the controversial posts were actually written by members of her team, and that she does not endorse them.

Related: Ilhan Omar Says If Republicans Won’t Remove ‘Dangerous And Violent’ Marjorie Taylor Greene, Then ‘We Must Do It’

Schiff Doubles Down

Schiff went on to blast McCarthy for visiting former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago this week.

“That is sadly where the GOP leadership is at in Congress, and that’s part of the reason why the Capitol looks like an armed fortress right now,” Schiff lamented.

Schiff added that he is disappointed at the permanent fencing being erected around the Capitol after the riots earlier this month.

“It’s just awful to see the necessary presence of so many troops, National Guard troops, guarding the nation’s Capitol,” he said. “I would have never imagined that would be necessary, and I hope that it won’t be necessary indefinitely.”

Read Next: Republicans Start Turning On Marjorie Taylor Greene

This piece was written by James Samson on January 30, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
RNC Chair McDaniel Lays Out Mundane Agenda
HR1 Tries To Make Stolen Elections Permanent
Schumer Unloads On Republicans Refusing To Support Impeachment – Vows To Hold Trial

The post Adam Schiff Rips GOP Leaders As ‘Dangerous Cult’ Over Threats Made To Democrats appeared first on The Political Insider.

Top Dem Accuses Trump Of ‘Actively Courting A Rise Of The Confederacy’ And ‘Civil War In Our Country’

Posted on by LifeZette

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) spoke out on Friday to outrageously accuse former President Donald Trump of “actively courting a rising of the Confederacy” and “a civil war.”

Jayapal Attacks Trump

“We all feel this tension of our colleagues who are continuing to not admit that Joe Biden won the election or continuing to engage with white nationalist extremist groups that were part of the insurrection on the Capitol, are continuing to tie themselves to Donald Trump, the president, who incited the insurrection,” Jayapal said while appearing on MSNBC.

“The most violent on the Capitol since the War of 1812,” she added. “The reality is there are too many members of the Republican Party who are refusing to wear masks, are refusing to go through metal detectors.”

Related: Adam Schiff Rips GOP Leaders As ‘Dangerous Cult’ Over Threats Made To Democrats

Jayapal Calls Republican Party A ‘Cult’

Not stopping there, Jayapal went on to accuse the Republican Party of being a “cult.”

“So it is real, the security threat to us, individually, in our homes, in our districts, and on the floor are real,” she said. “So is the rage at Republicans who are choosing a cult party and a cult figure over the Constitution. That’s what it is.”

“I have a lot of respect for Liz Cheney, for Adam Kinzinger, for Republicans, who understand their number one duty is to make sure we preserve our democracy and Constitution,” Jayapal continued.

“If Republicans choose to go along with Donald Trump, they’re choosing to go along with a president who incited insurrection and who is actively courting a rising of the Confederacy and, frankly, a civil war in our country,” she added. “So it is a very difficult time in our country.”

Related: Ilhan Omar Says If Republicans Won’t Remove ‘Dangerous And Violent’ Marjorie Taylor Greene, Then ‘We Must Do It’

“We are not going to succumb to this moment of, you know, really, terribly troubling times for our country,” Jayapal concluded. “Katy, the road to fascism is littered with moments where people either did not speak up, or they went along with what was being proposed. I do fear for our country in this moment.”

This comes after Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) made similar comments about the Republican Party.

“You know, the GOP leadership is becoming little more than a cult and a dangerous cult,” Schiff continued.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 30, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
RNC Chair McDaniel Lays Out Mundane Agenda
HR1 Tries To Make Stolen Elections Permanent
Schumer Unloads On Republicans Refusing To Support Impeachment – Vows To Hold Trial

The post Top Dem Accuses Trump Of ‘Actively Courting A Rise Of The Confederacy’ And ‘Civil War In Our Country’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trump Awards Congressman Jim Jordan With Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

President Trump awarded Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the Nation’s highest civilian honor.

The Hill reports that Jordan received the award “citing his defenses of Trump against impeachment and the Russia investigation.”

In a White House press release, President Trump lauded the Republican Congressman for having “led the effort to confront the impeachment witch hunt.”

“He is an inspiration to freedom-loving Americans everywhere and has distinguished himself as one of the most consequential members of Congress of his generation,” the statement concluded.

RELATED: Trump To Award Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan With Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Jim Jordan, Adam Schiff Slayer, Wins Medal Of Freedom

Jim Jordan repeatedly took Democrat Adam Schiff to task during the RussiaGate impeachment inquiry meetings, claiming that the Democrat had a reputation for leaking and lying.

He called Schiff out for claiming outwardly that he had no idea who the famous ‘whistleblower’ was during the impeachment hearings, even though that would be an impossibility.

“This committee will not be used to out the whistleblower,” Schiff claimed at the time.

“You have said you don’t know who the whistleblower is – even though no one believes you,” Jordan shot back at the California Democrat.

Another memorable exchange between the pair took place when Jordan tried to finish a question and Schiff claimed he wouldn’t ‘indulge him’ much longer.

“I have indulged you with extra time—” Schiff said.

Jordan replied, “I appreciate it,” as he tried to finish his line of questioning.

“But indulgence is wearing out,” Schiff interjected.

“Our indulgence wore out with you a long time ago, Mr. Chairman, I will tell you that,” fired back Jordan.

Jordan Grilled Dr. Fauci About Lockdowns And BLM Protests

Jordan also made a splash during testimony by Dr. Anthony Fauci regarding the coronavirus, lockdowns, and Black Lives Matter protests.

In one particularly heated exchange Jordan asked Fauci, “Should we limit the protesting?”

“I’m not in a position to determine what the government can do in a forceful way,” Fauci responded.

“I haven’t seen people during a church service go out and harm police officers or burn buildings,” Jordan scoffed, noting Fauci had opined on plenty of other events prior to that.

“No limit to protests, but you can’t go to church on Sunday.”

President Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom one week earlier to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), another staunch ally.

Nunes was instrumental in uncovering the deep-seated corruption that took place behind closed doors during the Russia probe.

The post Trump Awards Congressman Jim Jordan With Presidential Medal Of Freedom appeared first on The Political Insider.