House Speaker Kevin McCarthy formally rejected a last-ditch bid for Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to serve on the House Intelligence Committee, noting “integrity matters.”
McCarthy made his intention clear that he would be removing the pair due to Swalwell’s ties to a Chinese spy and Schiff’s penchant for leaking false information to the media.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged McCarthy to rethink the matter in a letter over the weekend.
On Tuesday, McCarthy had replied with his own letter, rejecting Jeffries’ plea.
While he appreciates the leading House Democrat’s “loyalty” to his colleagues, McCarthy insisted he could not put “partisan loyalty over national security.”
“Integrity matters more,” he wrote in bold type.
“In order to maintain a standard worthy of this committee’s responsibilities, I am hereby rejecting the appointments of Representative Adam Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell to serve on the Intelligence Committee,” the new Speaker declared.
I have rejected the appointments of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for the House Intelligence Committee.
I am committed to returning the @HouseIntel Committee to one of genuine honesty and credibility that regains the trust of the American people. pic.twitter.com/ePxlbanxta
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 25, 2023
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Schiff, Swalwell Say Goodbye to Their Committee Assignments
Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) didn’t take the news that they were removed from their House Intelligence Committee Assignments well, practically parroting each other in their responses.
“This is petty, political payback for investigating Donald Trump,” Schiff said without evidence. “If he thinks this will stop me, he will soon find out just how wrong he is.”
“I will always defend our democracy,” Schiff, who spent the entire previous administration trying to take down a duly-elected President through false claims of collusion with Russia, exclaimed.
Kevin McCarthy just kicked me and @RepSwalwell off the Intelligence Committee.
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.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 25, 2023
Swalwell’s flailing response wasn’t much prettier. The Democrat lawmaker reached to his usual go-to in the Washington Post to try and claim McCarthy’s actions are unjustified.
“This rejection is based on a claim that the Washington Post independent-fact checker gave 4 Pinocchios,” he said. “Speaker Boehner and Ryan, both Gang of 8 members, appointed me to Intel with access to the same facts McCarthy is distorting.”
“He can keep me off Intel, but I’m not going away,” he warned, despite the fact that he is most definitely going away from the Intel committee.
This rejection is based on a claim that the Washington Post independent-fact checker gave 4 Pinocchios. Speaker Boehner and Ryan, both Gang of 8 members, appointed me to Intel with access to the same facts McCarthy is distorting. He can keep me off Intel, but I’m not going away. https://t.co/YQZOVCSJpO
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 25, 2023
RELATED: Promise Kept: Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar Reinstated to House Committees
Swalwell’s WaPo Defense
Swalwell was referencing a Washington Post article in which Democrat water boy “independent” “fact-checker” Glenn Kessler claimed the allegations that he had a relationship with a Chinese spy was a “figment of imagination.”
“There is no evidence he did anything wrong,” Kessler insists, essentially using the notion that ‘Well, Swalwell denied any wrongdoing’ as the premise for his argument.
To the contrary, a bombshell report in 2020 indicated that a woman by the name of Christine Fang (aka Fang Fang) “took part in fundraising activity for Rep. Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign” and interacted with the Congressman “at multiple events over the course of several years.”
Fang had allegedly served as a Chinese Intelligence operative with China’s Ministry of State Security. She managed to get an intern placed in Swalwell’s Washington office.
There has been speculation that the relationship was sexual, something Swalwell has not specifically denied.
McCARTHY confirms Swalwell, Schiff & Omar will be off committees they’d previously served: intel/foreign affairs.
“Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance. Schiff has lied to the American public…”
— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) January 10, 2023
Speaker McCarthy has insinuated there is something more nefarious below the surface.
“Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance,” he announced when speaking about committee assignments.
“If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn’t have Eric Swalwell on any committee,” he would later say.
If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn’t have Eric Swalwell on 𝘢𝘯𝘺 committee. pic.twitter.com/2H19pezF9M
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 17, 2023
After kicking Swalwell and Schiff off their committee assignments, Kevin McCarthy reinstated MAGA Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) after Democrats stripped them of their roles for specious reasons.
While Democrats were removing Greene for posts made on social media before coming to Congress and Gosar for posting an anime video, McCarthy insists the removal of Schiff and Swalwell is legitimate and not about payback.
“This is not anything political. This is not similar to what the Democrats did,” he said.
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