GOP lawmaker's 'PENCIL' resolution calls for Rep. Adam Schiff to be tossed from Intel Committee

Christal Hayes
Updated

WASHINGTON – A Republican lawmaker has introduced a resolution calling for Rep. Adam Schiff to be ousted from heading the House Intelligence Committee and asking that his security clearance be revoked.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, titled the resolution the "PENCIL" act, a nod to insults made by the president, who dubbed Schiff "little pencil neck Adam Schiff."

The resolution's title in full is the Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses. It calls for Schiff's ousting from the committee because he "can no longer be trusted" and claims Schiff made a series of false statements about Trump.

Schiff has been heavily criticized since Attorney General William Barr revealed that special counsel Robert Mueller did not find a conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.

Many Republicans, including Trump, have called for Schiff to resign and accused the Democrat from California of spending years lying about the president on national television. Schiff is part of the so-called "Gang of Eight," a group of senior lawmakers privy to secretive intelligence information.

The resolution alleges Schiff "can no longer be trusted by his colleagues in Congress or the American people."

"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," the resolution said.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, at Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2019.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks during the House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, at Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2019.

Schiff has shrugged off the attacks from Republicans, and his Democratic colleagues have defended him. He and other Democrats have continued to push for the full release of Mueller's report instead of relying on a four-page letter from Barr, who was nominated by Trump just before the end of the probe, that offered some of the conclusions.

A redacted version of the report is expected to soon be released, Barr told Congress this week.

Schiff addressed the attacks head-on last month during a committee hearing, where he laid out all the evidence of the Trump campaign's interactions with Russians. "I think it’s immoral. I think it’s unethical. I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt," Schiff said.

More: Republicans call for Rep. Adam Schiff to resign, step down from intelligence committee

More: Donald Trump ridicules 'little pencil neck Adam Schiff,' calls for his resignation

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GOP lawmaker's 'PENCIL' resolution calls for Rep. Adam Schiff to be tossed from Intel Committee