Name of Resolution Pushing To Boot Schiff From Committee Was Inspired by Trump's Insulting Nickname for Him: 'PENCIL Act'
Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff, who serves as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has emerged as a top nemesis in Congress to President Donald Trump.
Schiff has spent the past two years repeatedly insisting that there was ample evidence, in plain sight, of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia in the 2016 election. Despite the two-year-long Mueller probe uncovering no such evidence of collusion, Schiff has stuck with his now-debunked narrative.
In light of that consistent and vociferous opposition to Trump, the president recently bestowed Schiff with an insulting nickname, as he has a tendency to do, and dubbed the congressman “pencil neck.”
That insulting nickname served as the basis for a resolution — the “PENCIL Act” — introduced in the House by Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has been calling for Schiff to be removed from his chairmanship and have his security clearance revoked in light of his obvious lies about collusion over the past two years.
Gaetz tweeted on Wednesday, “Today I filed the ‘PENCIL Act,’ expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that ‘Congressman Adam Schiff should be removed from the House Intelligence Committee and his security clearance immediately revoked.'”
#BREAKING: Today I filed the “PENCIL Act,” expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that “Congressman Adam Schiff should be removed from the House Intelligence Committee and his security clearance immediately revoked.” pic.twitter.com/1FsMt6NUjr
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) April 11, 2019
The title of the resolution served as a clever acronym, as Congress loves to do with various pieces of legislation, and is short for “Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses.”
The four-page resolution, in calling for Schiff to have his security clearance revoked and be removed from the intelligence committee, detailed that as chairman of that committee, Schiff occupied an important role in what is known as the “Gang of Eight,” the eight members of Congress who enjoy special access not granted to other members to see classified and sensitive intelligence information.
Gaetz noted that since the overwhelming majority of members don’t enjoy that same access, they must rely upon the “judgment, integrity, and truthfulness” of those who do have such access, such as Schiff.
Given the manner in which Schiff has lied repeatedly about the supposed intelligence revealing evidence of collusion that he has claimed to have seen, yet not produced any of to the public, Gaetz asserted that “Schiff can no longer be trusted by his colleagues in Congress or the American people.”
Furthermore, because of the recent vote of “no confidence” in Schiff by all Republican members of the committee, not to mention Schiff’s slander and false claims against the president — of which Gaetz provided several examples — it was concluded that Schiff “has demonstrated a blatant bias in the performance of his official duties as Chairman.”
Most notably, Schiff has “proven himself untrustworthy by advancing falsities about the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, as relating to unfounded allegations of collusion with the Russian Federation.”
As such, Gaetz wrote, “It is the sense of the House of Representatives that Congressman Adam Schiff should be removed from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House and that his security clearance should be revoked immediately.”
All jokes about Schiff’s appearance aside, his “blatant bias” toward the president and utter dishonesty with the American people about alleged Russian collusion — and in essence, a false accusation of Trump committing treason — is no laughing matter.
Given Schiff’s history of lying about supposed intelligence that only he and a handful of others are permitted to see, Gaetz is well within his rights, and absolutely correct, to suggest that Schiff simply can’t be believed. He can’t be trusted to accurately summarize and share sensitive and classified information that the rest of Congress must rely upon to inform their decision-making on important matters.
Adam Schiff should absolutely have his security clearance revoked in light of his disgustingly partisan dishonesty. He should also be stripped of his chairmanship and removed from the intelligence committee, if not censured and ousted from Congress altogether.
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