Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida presented legislation that would ask the House to decide whether to prevent Rep. Adam Schiff from handling any secret information after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed him from the House Intelligence Committee.
The PENCIL Act, which stands for “Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses,” was first mentioned in The Daily Caller. The legislation’s name is derived from the moniker “Pencil-Neck” given to Schiff by the late former president Donald Trump.
Schiff’s expulsion was primarily motivated by “threats” to American national security.
Trump was falsely accused of being a Russian spy by Schiff prior to the 2016 presidential election. He allegedly also disclosed sensitive information.
Before introducing the legislation, Gaetz told the Daily Caller that Congressman Adam Schiff had “led the effort for years to weaponize lies from the Clinton campaign and a corrupt Department of Justice to smear President Trump while destroying any trust the country had left in America’s intelligence agencies.”
Schiff would not be permitted to access “any classified information at all” under the PENCIL Act. Schiff “no longer can be trusted,” according to Gaetz.
With the PENCIL Resolution, we will convey the sentiment of Congress that Rep. Schiff should be prohibited from obtaining any secret information at all. Speaker McCarthy kept his pledge to remove Rep. Schiff from the Intelligence Committee. His congressional colleagues and the American people no longer have faith in him, Gaetz declared.
On Wednesday’s episode of Fox’s chat show “Outnumbered,” former CIA director and secretary of state Mike Pompeo claimed that Adam Schiff “lied to the American people.”
I am aware that he released sensitive information that was given to him during my tenure as CIA director and secretary of state, Pompeo stated.
U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-IN, told Fox News Reporter Pete Hegseth, “Obviously, think about it, caught in a highly compromising circumstance, this person shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near our national secrets because of how compromised he was.”
Eric Swalwell, a US Representative, was likewise expelled by McCarthy from the Intelligence Committee. He claimed that because of Swalwell’s “connection with a Chinese spy,” the FBI was “concerned” about his membership on the Intelligence Committee.
“Today, Mike Pompeo verified that Adam Schiff had in fact leaked, and had done so deliberately, classified information while serving as the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
Both of these men shouldn’t even be in Congress, let alone being on the Intelligence Committee, so credit to Speaker McCarthy for doing what he said he would do, Banks said. “He shouldn’t be permitted on the committee after doing that; he should be punished for it,” Banks added.
Schiff referred to the dismissal as “political revenge” and “petty.”
Kevin McCarthy just kicked me and @RepSwalwell off the Intelligence Committee.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 25, 2023
This is petty, political payback for investigating Donald Trump.
If he thinks this will stop me, he will soon find out just how wrong he is.
I will always defend our democracy.
