Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California called House Republicans who sought to censure him “lunatics” on Wednesday, and accused them of trying to “distract” Americans from former President Donald Trump’s legal issues.

On Wednesday, a censure resolution introduced by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida over Schiff’s claims that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign failed, after 20 Republicans joined with 205 Democrats who voted to table the resolution. “But it is clear the lunatics have taken over the asylum and they want to try to distract from Trump’s legal woes and gratify his base,” Schiff told CNN host Wolf Blitzer.

“You had George Santos today saying we have to pass this to restore integrity of the House; this stuff would be laughable if it wasn’t the House of Representatives,” Schiff said.

Schiff often made claims about alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. The Steele Dossier, which was used to further the allegations of collusion, was later discredited.

WATCH:

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy refused to allow Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Schiff  to serve on the House Intelligence Committee in January, citing Schiff’s claims about Trump colluding with Russia and Swalwell’s reported relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.

“I serve now as senior member of the judiciary committee, Kevin McCarthy may rue the day he took me off Intel because I am in a position now to push back against Jim Jordan and the Republicans on the committee effort to interfere in the prosecution of Donald Trump,” Schiff told Blitzer. “As I said last week, you know, Donald Trump has plenty of good criminal defense lawyers. That is not the job of members of Congress to be on his defense team, but this is what they’re trying to do and I am going to resist those efforts in every way I can.”

Trump entered a plea of “not guilty” to all counts during his arraignment on Tuesday, after Special Counsel Jack Smith secured a grand jury indictment on 37 counts, including violations of the Espionage Act, that was unsealed on Friday. The investigation into Trump’s handling of classified materials led to an Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate the former president owns.

“It is absurd to me that you have so many Republicans attacking the Justice Department. They were doing it before they read the indictment. Now presidential candidates are saying they would pardon him,” Schiff said. “Clearly in their view it doesn’t matter how many times he violates the law, doesn’t matter how serious his transgressions, they will stand by him because they think that is where the Republican base is at this moment and they are willing to essentially ignore their oath of office and duty to the Constitution to devote themselves completely to this flawed human being.”

Rep. Luna did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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