Gaetz Introduces Resolution to Deny Schiff Access to Classified Information

Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) delivers remarks in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday calling for an investigation into Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and proposed he be denied access to classified information.

The resolution (pdf), titled “Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses Resolution,” or “PENCIL Resolution,” is an updated version of a similar resolution Gaetz introduced in 2019.

It calls for Schiff to be denied access to classified information and investigated by the House Ethics Committee. It also calls for his comments on the discredited allegations that Russia colluded with the Trump campaign in 2016 to be struck from the official record.

“Congressman Adam Schiff led the effort for years to weaponize lies from the Clinton campaign and a corrupt Department of Justice to smear President [Donald] Trump while destroying any trust the country had left in America’s intelligence agencies,” Gaetz said in a statement.

“Speaker McCarthy kept his promise to remove Rep. Schiff from the Intelligence Committee, and with the PENCIL Resolution, we will express the sense of Congress that he should be barred from accessing any classified information at all,” he continued. “He can no longer be trusted by his colleagues in Congress or the American people.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy officially rejected Schiff for a seat on the House Intelligence Committee on Jan. 24, having argued that Schiff “lied to the American public.”

The day before McCarthy denied Schiff a seat, Charles McGonigal, a former FBI agent who played a role in investigating Trump’s 2016 campaign advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos over the collusion allegations, was himself arrested for alleged ties to a Russian oligarch.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Jan. 23 that McGonigal had been charged with violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by laundering money on behalf of Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian billionaire.

Gaetz argued that McGonigal’s arrest “proved that the very people investigating President Trump for Russian collusion were themselves taking orders from Russian oligarchs.”

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) listens during the third hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on June 16, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

PENCIL Resolution

Schiff served on the Intelligence Committee since January 2015, first as the ranking minority member when Republicans were last in the majority, then as chairman from January 2019 to Jan. 3, 2023, when Democrats were in the majority.

The Democrat was one of eight members, referred to by Gaetz as the “Gang of Eight,” who had access to critical and sensitive intelligence information that other members of Congress and the American people did not have clearance to access.

Gaetz’s resolution states that during his tenure, Schiff made false claims about collusion between Trump and Russia during the 2016 election, despite the principal conclusions of the Mueller Report determining that there was no criminal collusion.

In December 2017, Schiff said during an interview with CNN: “The Russians offered help, the campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help, and the president made full use of that help.” The resolution additionally notes that Schiff incorrectly claimed there was “clear evidence on the issue of collusion.”

Further, the resolution states that Schiff has been untrustworthy by advancing lies about Trump and that Schiff has attempted to cover his abuse of discretion with legislation.

In November 2020, Schiff’s office demanded Twitter remove “any and all content” by alleged harassers and spreaders of so-called misinformation about the committee’s staff. This included removing content created by State Department staffers that challenged the Russia collusion narrative. His office also called for the suspension of “many” accounts.

Ultimately, the resolution states that Schiff “can no longer be trusted by his colleagues in Congress or the American people.”

The Epoch Times contacted Schiff’s office for comment.