Adam Schift really stepped in it again!
After trying to court the so-called “Moderate Republicans” to vote with the Democrats on impeachment, Schiff’s efforts reportedly backfired and had the opposite effect!
During his closing arguments, Schiff made the claim that Republican senators were told if they voted against the president their heads would be on a pike!
Take a look:
Collins immediately rebuked Schiff:
"Unforced error"
Watch it for yourself here:
Breitbart had more:
Republican senators rallied after leading House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) cited a CBS News report in his closing arguments on Friday that alleged GOP senators were warned, “Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike.”
“A Trump confidant tells CBS News senators have been warned — vote against the president and your head will be on a pike,” CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reported on CBS This Morning on Friday — a report that caught Schiff’s attention.
“CBS News reported last night that a Trump confidant said GOP senators were warned, ‘Vote against your president, vote against the president, and your head will be on a pike,’ Schiff stated as he closed on Friday.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” he added:
Republican senators, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), were taken aback. Collins reportedly shook her head and said, “That’s not true,” while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), another Republican Democrats hope to win over to push for witnesses, said, “That’s where he lost me.”
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“Not only have I never heard the ‘head on the pike’ line but also I know of no Republican senator who has been threatened in any way by anyone in the administration,” Collins said, according to multiple reports:
“That is completely totally false, and all of us were shaking our heads, like where did that story come from, and Adam Schiff just kept saying it,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said after the closing arguments.
“The whole room was visibly upset on our side of it. … That’s insulting and demeaning,” he added.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) also denied that any Republican received that threat and added that Schiff “offended every Republican senator”:
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) was also overheard saying, “That’s not true,” according to the Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) admitted that he did not know if the report was true but told MSNBC, “The Republicans are so afraid to confront the actual facts here that are presented by the House managers that they’re always looking for a diversion.”
Schiff’s remark comes as Democrats close their final arguments and hope to win over a cluster of GOP senators to support their calls for additional witnesses. Schiff has since suggested that Chief Justice John Roberts should make a ruling on the matter.
“To the degree that there were a dispute over whether a privilege applied, we have a perfectly good judge sitting behind me, empowered by the rules of this body to resolve those disputes,” Schiff stated on Friday.
And Yahoo News / Reuters reports:
Representative Adam Schiff, making his closing argument in the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, seemed to have the Senate chamber more or less rapt, with lawmakers listening respectfully, whether they agreed with his arguments or not.
Then the Democratic congressman mentioned a CBS News report about a Trump confidante suggesting serious ramifications for Republican senators if they voted against the president, and the mood on the Republican side of the aisle shifted. Dramatically.
"Not true," Senator Susan Collins of Maine declared out loud as fellow Republicans responded audibly and disgustedly at Schiff's remarks.
Collins is a moderate Republican whose support Democrats are trying to win. Her response and that of her colleagues was all the more notable because senators had been warned not to talk during the proceedings or face potential imprisonment.
But Schiff's remarks had touched a nerve. Leading the prosecution of Trump for Democrats from the House of Representatives, Schiff had cited a report suggesting that Republicans, known as members of the Grand Old Party (GOP), had been threatened.
"CBS News reported last night that a Trump confidante said that GOP senators were warned: vote against your president ... and your head will be on a pike," Schiff said.
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"I hope it's not true. But I was struck by the irony of the idea, when we're talking about a president who would make himself a monarch, that whoever that was would use the terminology of a penalty that was imposed by a monarch, a head on a pike."
Republicans said they were insulted.
"The whole room was visibly upset on our side of it. It's insulting and demeaning to everyone to say that we live in fear and that the president has threatened all of us," Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma told reporters later. "Nothing like going through three days of frustration and then cap it off with an insult."
Republicans control the U.S. Senate and are not expected to convict and remove Trump from office in the impeachment trial. Many have complained that Schiff and other prosecuting lawmakers, known as managers in the trial, had presented a repetitive and unconvincing case against Trump.
If they needed more fodder, they got it on Friday, even though Schiff made clear he did not know if the CBS report had been true.
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