Rep. Andy Biggs Says Schiff Has 'Crossed the Rubicon,' He 'Needs To Be Disciplined'
For Rep. Andy Biggs, it’s time to take a stand.
Appearing Wednesday on “Fox & Friends,” the Arizona Republican told host Steve Doocy that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, had “crossed the Rubicon” in his pursuit of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
And a censure motion that started circulating in the House late last month hasn’t slowed Schiff down.
In a letter Tuesday to House Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schiff, the White House declared it would not participate in House impeachment proceedings because the House inquiry “violates fundamental fairness and constitutionally mandated due process.”
The letter specifically cited Schiff’s bizarre decision to start ad-libbing during a televised hearing about the controversial July 25 telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Schiff’s misleading statements about when and how his committee staff was notified of concerns from a “whistleblower” about the call.
“The fact that there was nothing wrong with the call was also powerfully confirmed by Chairman Schiff’s decision to create a false version of the call and read it to the American people at a congressional hearing, without disclosing that he was simply making it all up,” the letter stated.
“In addition, information has recently come to light that the whistleblower had contact with Chairman Schiff’s office before filing the complaint. His initial denial of such contact caused The Washington Post to conclude that Chairman Schiff ‘clearly made a statement that was false.’ In any event, the American people understand that Chairman Schiff cannot covertly assist with the submission of a complaint, mislead the public about his involvement, read a counterfeit version of the call to the American people, and then pretend to sit in judgment as a neutral ‘investigator.’”
In his interview with Doocy, Biggs agreed.
Check it out here:
“I think when he dropped the blatantly fake, fraudulent phone call transcript on the American people, it did a couple of things,” Biggs said. “It misled the American people, brought the House in disrepute and quite frankly it was over the edge and just pushed everybody over the edge.
“We’ve been watching him for 2-and-a-half years now abuse the process and we just felt like, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve crossed the Rubicon here. He needs to be disciplined.’”
Biggs introduced the censure motion, which is supported by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
But he told Doocy that Schiff’s behavior in recent weeks has gotten even worse — conducting committee hearings behind closed doors, under rules that have made it impossible for either the White House or House Republicans to defend the president.
“When he started going into closed-door sessions, when he started leaking information from emails contextually to support his position when the overall package of emails actually undercuts his position, then you know that the fix is in, in the sense that he’s not going to let fairness and due process happen here,” Biggs said.
No one who’s been following Schiff’s behavior since the beginning of the Trump administration would have any trouble believing he’s behaving dishonestly.
He repeatedly said the investigation by former special counsel Robert Mueller would turn up evidence of “collusion” between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
Mueller’s investigation found nothing of the kind, but even after the Mueller probe closed, Schiff maintained there was evidence “in plain sight.”
His behavior during the “whistleblower” saga has been just as deceptive, egging on the Democratic, anti-Trump base without regard for the truth, or the consequences for the country.
And considering Schiff’s record, it’s only likely to get worse as this impeachment farce continues.
For GOP lawmakers like Biggs, McCarthy and the rest of the Republican minority in the House, it’s past time to take a stand.
