GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced a resolution on Wednesday that calls for finning Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) $16 million for false claims that former President Trump had colluded with Moscow to win the 2016 US presidential election.
The sum is around half the cost of the federal investigation into the allegation, which was eventually found to have no basis in fact by special counsel reports from Robert Mueller and John Durham, Fox News reported.
"The GOP Conference agrees that Adam Schiff has betrayed the trust of the American people, purposely abused positions of extreme authority, lied continuously, and as such, must be held to account," Luna said. "Accordingly, the resolution requires Rep. Schiff to pay a $16 million dollar fine, half of the cost American taxpayers were forced to pay for the Russia hoax investigation."
The resolution pointed out that Schiff, who was the chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, had a responsibility of being in a position of “extreme trust” as he had access to top secret briefings not available to other reps.
However, it charged that Schiff "abused this trust" by claiming he had seen evidence of the Trump campaign's collusion with Russia, including during numerous media interviews, an allegation which was eventually debunked by special counsel reports.
"By repeatedly telling these falsehoods, Representative Schiff purposely deceived his Committee, Congress, and the American people," the resolution said.
It also accused Schiff of lending “credibility” to the discredited Steele dossier, and to publicly accusing Trump aide Carter Page of being a Russian collaborator.
"Representative Schiff exploited his positions on HPSCI to encourage and excuse abusive intelligence investigations of Americans for political purposes," the resolution said. "Representative Schiff used his position and access to sensitive information to instigate a fraudulently based investigation, which he then used to amass political gain and fundraising dollars."
It continued: “American taxpayers paid $32 million to fund the investigation into collusion that was launched as a result of Rep. Schiff’s lies, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.”
The resolution "censures and condemns" the California rep., accusing him of "conduct that misleads the American people in a way that is not befitting an elected Member of the House.”
The resolution states that Schiff should be fined $16 million.
"It is the obligation of House Leadership to back up this motion for the American people and hold this feckless man accountable," Luna said, according to Fox News.