[WND] At least 125 Republicans have co-sponsored a resolution to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for his "parody" of the phone call between President Trump and the Ukrainian president that triggered the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.In a hearing last month, Schiff characterized "the essence" of Trump's message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as: "We've been very good to your country. Very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what, I don't see much reciprocity here.
"I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you, though and I'm gonna say this only seven times, so you better listen good," Schiff continued. "I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of it ... on this and on that."
After criticism from colleagues, Schiff later claimed his version of the call was a "parody."
Fox News reports 125 lawmakers support a censure resolution proposed by U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
Several key leaders are cosponsors, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
"Schiff simply does not have the gravitas that a weighty procedure such as impeachment requires," Biggs wrote in an opinion piece published by FoxNews.com. "He has repeatedly shown incredibly poor judgment. He has persistently and consistently demonstrated that he has such a tremendous bias and animus against Trump that he will say anything and accept any proffer of even bogus evidence to try to remove the president from office."
Schiff claimed his version of the transcript was "the message that the Ukraine president was receiving."
McCarthy charged Schiff, who claimed for two years to have evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, "has been lying to the American people for years."
"Now he is so desperate to damage the president that he literally made up a false version of a phone call," McCarthy said. "Enough is enough."
President Trump, who calls the congressman "Shifty Schiff," urged him to resign, saying he "lied to Congress and attempted to defraud the American public."
Democrats accuse Trump of using the power of his office to persuade a foreign nation to influence the 2020 presidential election. According to a transcript of the July phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to "look into" Hunter Biden's profiting from the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma while his father was Obama's point man for Ukraine policy.
The White House argues the subsequently released transcript shows there was no quid pro quo and points out the president has the authority to discuss with a foreign leader a case of alleged corruption that could impact national security.