‘Needed to be done’: Lawmakers consider if Schiff’s censure will bolster his Senate campaign

FIRST ON FOX: Several lawmakers on Capitol Hill shared their thoughts on whether California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff’s House censure will affect his Senate campaign.

Schiff became only the 25th lawmaker in American history to receive censure from the House. Censure is the second-most serious form of discipline a representative can face in Congress, topped only by expulsion.

The California Democrat found himself on the receiving end of the lower chamber’s spit over his pushing of the debunked collusion claims between former President Trump and Russia amid the 2016 election.

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However, with Schiff running for Senate in deep-blue California, the censure — which the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee calls a “badge of honor” — could prove politically and financially lucrative. Schiff sent out fundraising emails shortly after the censure.

Republicans, though, believe the move was necessary to preserve the integrity of the House, even if Schiff gets a political boost.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital he thinks Schiff probably hauled in some serious campaign cash after the censure.

“Yeah, I think he probably raised a couple million dollars that night, but I think it needed to be done,” Burchett said.

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said he does not believe that Schiff’s censure will elevate him politically in the 2024 California Senate race.

“I think the American people have seen for pretty much the last two and a half years that Congressman Schiff has developed his own strategy of misleading and mischaracterizing certain events,” Fitzgerald said.

“He did it as chairman of the [Intelligence] Committee, I think he’s done it as a member of Judiciary in this Congress, and doesn’t seem to have changed his thoughts in regards to the Russian collusion complete debacle that continues to unravel as we gain more information,” he added.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital he doesn’t “really think through those kinds of lenses,” adding “the censure yesterday speaks for itself.”

“Mr. Schiff, he knowingly proceeded with an investigation knowing he had information that was, frankly, counter to what he was putting out into public view, misled the American people from a position of importance, chairman of the Intelligence ommittee,” Roy said.

“He knew the Democrats were at the beginning, the tip of the spear of what led to the investigation in the first place,” Roy said. “Hillary Clinton Democrats that were a part of the initial outset of the investigation plus the Steele dossier that was not corroborated as they head into the fall in 2016, and knowing full well that [Charles Dolan, Jr.] was the Democratic operative who was the source.”

“And he had all of the information at his disposal that we’ve seen released from the intel committee subsequently,” the Texas Republican continued. “And so, I think it’s a matter of course for the House to be able to check against abuse of power like that, and the American people need to have that happen, regardless of what the political consequences are.”