The recent report from Special Counsel John Durham about his investigation into the FBI’s probe of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election has been used as both political fodder and the basis for false claims.
The caption on a May 25 Facebook video says U.S. Rep Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was fined $16 million for his role in the FBI’s probe.
“Adam Schiff just got served – $16 million fine for Russia collusion investigation,” it said.
But Schiff hasn’t been fined. His congressional colleague introduced a resolution to fine Schiff, but no action has been taken on it.
The video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook.)
Although the caption does not tell the entire story, the accompanying video specifies that the $16 million fine was still just a proposal.
On May 23, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., submitted House Resolution 437 that would censure and condemn Schiff for what the proposal’s text called the “lies, misrepresentations and abuses of sensitive information” he committed that resulted in the FBI’s investigation.
The $16 million fine is intended to cover half the cost that the “American taxpayers were forced to pay for the Russia hoax investigation,” Luna said in a statement.
Luna also submitted a separate resolution to expel Schiff from the House of Representatives.
Neither resolution has been voted on by the House.
Schiff addressed the resolutions on his Twitter account, saying, “(They) will not work. I will not back down.”
Schiff has long been a target of Republicans for his repeated assertion that Trump colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election and for his role as the lead prosecutor during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
We rate the claim that Schiff “just got served” with a $16 million fine False.
