McCarthy reveals why he removed Swalwell from committee position

By 
 January 14, 2023

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the new speaker of the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, has just revealed why it is that he is removing Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) from his committee position. 

McCarthy, according to Fox News, says that it comes down to a troubling FBI briefing that he has received about Swalwell.

"He cannot get a security clearance"

During Thursday's press briefing, McCarthy was asked about his decision to remove Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee.

"If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn't have Swalwell on any committee," McCarthy said.

McCarthy went on to say that Swalwell "cannot get a security clearance in the private sector." Accordingly, McCarthy asked why it is that one would give Swalwell a "government clearance."

McCarthy concluded by taking issue with the fact that the Democrats, when they controlled the House in the last congress, decided to put Swalwell on the Intelligence Committee despite the fact that "the FBI came and told the leadership that he's got a problem." McCarthy argued, "that jeopardized all of us."

Background

McCarthy did not go into detail about what the FBI report exactly showed. But, it likely has to do with Swalwell's relationship with the Chinese spy Fang Fang.

Breitbart News fills in some of the details, reporting:

Breitbart News published an explosive exclusive report in August 2021 regarding a classified report indicating Swalwell was in an intimate sexual relationship with a Chinese spy named Fang Fang. Moreover, Fang Fang also “took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign, according to a Bay Area political operative,” as Axios reported in 2020.

This appears to be what McCarthy is referring to. But, McCarthy did not specifically confirm this.

Swalwell's not the only one

McCarthy vowed, upon becoming speaker to remove several controversial Democrats from their committee positions, and it appears that McCarthy, now that he is speaker, is following through on this promise.

Besides Swalwell, McCarthy is removing Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from their spots on the House Intelligence Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee, respectively.

Regarding Schiff, McCarthy has said, "Schiff has lied too many times to the American public. He should not be on Intel." McCarthy has, in particular, referred to Schiff's advocacy for the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

As for Omar, Schiff pointed to the congresswoman's frequent criticism of Israel.

For these removals, McCarthy has said that he is simply following the precedent set by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who removed multiple Republicans from committees.

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