This Arizona Republican sided with Democrats to block GOP censure of Rep. Adam Schiff

Rep. Juan Ciscomani sided Wednesday with House Democrats to block the censure of Rep. Adam Schiff in a House floor vote on Wednesday.

Arizona Republican Reps. Andy Biggs, Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert supported the censure, which would have fined Schiff, D-Calif., $16 million and directed the House Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation into Schiff's alleged "lies, misrepresentations and abuses of sensitive information."

Ciscomani, R-Ariz., was one of 20 Republicans who voted to block the move. Ciscomani did not comment on his position on social media and his office did not immediately respond to The Arizona Republic's request for comment.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., did, too, saying that allowing Congress to take $16 million from a member is "shortsighted."

"Can we not imagine a time when this precedent would be used against conservatives?... I'm told a constitutional version will be offered now," Massie said in a tweet.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., launched the effort to censure Schiff in response to his hinting in 2016 at collusion between former President Donald Trump and Russia. Luna needed a simple majority to pass the censure.

She took to Twitter to express her frustration with Wednesday's vote and her intentions to file a new motion.

"See you next week Adam," she wrote. Crane showed support for that message in a tweet of his own.

All three of Arizona's House Democrats — Reps. Ruben Gallego, Raúl Grijalva and Greg Stanton — voted with Ciscomani to block the censure.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's Rep. Juan Ciscomani votes against Rep. Adam Schiff censure