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No, Kevin McCarthy has not called to expel Adam Schiff | Fact check

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: Kevin McCarthy has called for expelling, prosecuting Adam Schiff for treason

A May 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) makes a claim about the Republican leader of the U.S. House.

"BREAKING: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has called for the immediate expulsion and possible prosecution of Rep. Adam Schiff for committing crimes of treason against the United States," reads the post.

The post generated over 100 shares in less than a week. Similar posts have amassed hundreds of interactions on Instagram and Twitter.

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Our rating: False

McCarthy has not called for Rep. Adam Schiff’s expulsion or prosecution. During a May 16 press conference, he raised the question of whether Schiff should be expelled but did not call for immediate action on that front. There is no evidence Schiff has committed treason.

McCarthy has not called for any such action against Schiff

No credible news reports indicate that McCarthy has called for the immediate expulsion or prosecution of Schiff, a California Democrat. There are also no credible reports that Schiff has committed treason.

Kenneth Mayer, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told USA TODAY the claim is “completely fabricated.”

“It's nothing but a toxic aspect of social media, where even the most absurd posts can get traction,” Mayer told USA TODAY in an email.

The post came after Justice Department special counsel John Durham released a report on May 15 criticizing the FBI’s investigation into possible ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election, as USA TODAY reported. Durham was appointed by William Barr, Trump’s attorney general, in 2019 to review the investigation based on "unevaluated evidence."

Schiff, the former chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who led Trump’s first impeachment trial, had repeatedly claimed in the past that there was evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 election. His claims also came after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 investigation did not find sufficient evidence that Trump committed a crime.

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Chad Gilmartin, McCarthy’s spokesperson, referred USA TODAY to a May 16 press conference in which a reporter asked McCarthy what accountability looked like after the Durham report was released. McCarthy said in response:

“Well, a number of things. We're asking Durham to come in and testify so we can look at it more. It really raises the question about Adam Schiff. You remember when he told the American people he had proof? Remember when he'd tell them he didn't know the whistleblower − and what he put America through and openly lied to us and now it's proven that this as well? It raises a lot of questions about his − just his character, his standing inside of Congress and whether he should even be in Congress."

A reporter then asked McCarthy if he was moving to expel Schiff, and McCarthy said, “No, I’m raising the question to you.”

Expelling a member of the House requires a two-thirds majority vote of the House. Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna filed a resolution to expel Schiff from Congress on May 17. But when McCarthy was asked on May 18 whether Luna’s resolution would get floor time, he told Politico that he’d “have to look at it.”

As of May 23, the bill has only been referred to the House Committee on Ethics.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

AFP Fact Check also debunked this claim

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Durham report spurs false claim about Schiff expulsion | Fact check