Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) believes House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is enacting “political abuse” for removing both himself and fellow Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) from the House Intelligence Committee.
Swalwell was removed from the committee in response to allegations he and his office had developed ties to a suspected Chinese spy in 2012, which the Congressman has rejected. Swalwell pointed to how previous House speakers, including John Boehner and Paul Ryan, had access to the FBI’s investigation on him, but never removed him from the committee over the allegations, insisting that “there’s nothing there,” during an appearance with Schiff and Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
THE DEBRIEF: DAVID MARK ON SCHIFF AND SWALWELL BEING REMOVED FROM HOUSE COMMITTEES
“This is some Bakersfield ‘BS,'” he said. “It’s Kevin McCarthy weaponizing his ability to commit this political abuse, because he perceives me, just like Mr. Schiff and Miss Omar, as an effective political opponent.”
Swalwell and Schiff were both removed from the committee on Tuesday, with McCarthy removing Schiff under accusations he intentionally misled the American public while leading the investigations into former President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Russia. McCarthy had previously vowed to boot the two Democrats from the panel as well as Omar from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs after Democrats removed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) from their committee assignments.
Omar was also asked if she believes enough Republicans will vote to remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee, to which she responded that two Republicans stated publicly that they would not vote for her removal and that some have told her privately they will not vote to remove her. She claimed they are doing so “because they don’t want to be seen as hypocrites.”
“They have taken a position, in the last Congress, and they will continue to do that,” Omar said. “And I believe that that is a really important piece here, because their stance, to stand behind two members that were accused of inciting violence and threatening the lives of members of Congress, was to say the majority should not have the job of removing the minority from their committees and I hope that they keep their word.”
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All three of the Democratic representatives have criticized McCarthy’s move as an act of “political vengeance,” with Swalwell believing McCarthy’s action will help Democrats take back the majority, he told the press the day after his removal.
As of Sunday, Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO), Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) have stated they will not vote for Omar’s removal from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) will be unable to vote due to him recovering from an accident. The vote has a 5-vote margin, meaning only one more representative needs to vote no to remove Omar for her to remain on the committee, according to Axios.
