By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a Republican effort to censure Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat who played a leading role in the first impeachment of then-President Donald Trump in 2019.

The Republican-controlled chamber defeated the motion by a vote of 225 to 196, with 20 Republicans joining 205 Democrats in opposition.

The measure's sponsors, including far-right Republican Representatives Anna Paulina Luna, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, argued that an investigation that Schiff led into potential ties between Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russian government was politically motivated.

The symbolic rebuke also called for a $16 million fine, though it is unclear how that could be enforced.

Schiff is running for California's Senate seat in 2024 and sent a fundraising email based on Wednesday's censure move.

Republican Representative Paul Gosar was censured in 2021 after he posted a cartoon video that showed him killing Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the first time the censure had been used in a decade.

Schiff has been a frequent Republican target since 2019, when he headed the investigation that led to Trump's impeachment over his alleged effort to pressure Ukraine to help him win re-election. Trump remained in office because the Senate declined to convict him.

Trump was impeached a second time by the House over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol. Again, the Senate voted against conviction.

In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Schiff called the motion "not only a terrible misuse of House precedent and resources, but a clear attack on our constitutional system of checks and balances."

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; editing by Andy Sullivan and David Gregorio)