House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is likely going to take over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) position following the 2022 midterms if all of the forecasts for a GOP red wave prove to be true.
And should he take the Speaker’s gavel, he plans to do some congressional housekeeping.
In an interview Wednesday with Fox News host Jesse Watters, McCarthy said he will eject two Democratic members from California’s congressional delegation — Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell — from their positions on the House Intelligence Committee.
At one point in the segment, McCarthy noted that a crew from the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” who had been arrested for unlawful entry at the Capitol complex were let in by a former Schiff aide.
“You know who let them back in?” McCarthy said. “A former Schiff staffer.”
Watters replied: “Of course. He’s got his fingerprints on everything. And they’re filthy.”
“But I’ll promise you this. When I’m Speaker, he will not be on the intel committee anymore. And you know what else? Swalwell won’t either,” McCarthy added.
“I don’t know if this is a high bar, but you have a relation with a Chinese spy, you shouldn’t be allowed to be on the intel committee,” he continued, referencing a previous report regarding Swalwell.
Per
A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015, Axios found in a yearlong investigation.
While this suspected operative’s activities appear to have ended during the Obama administration, concerns about Beijing’s influence operations have spanned President Trump’s time in office and will continue to be a core focus for U.S. counterintelligence during the Biden administration.
…Among the most significant targets of Fang’s efforts was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
A statement from Swalwell’s office provided to Axios said: “Rep. Swalwell, long ago, provided information about this person — whom he met more than eight years ago, and whom he hasn’t seen in nearly six years — to the FBI.
To protect information that might be classified, he will not participate in your story.”
During his interview with Watters, McCarthy also called out Schiff and fellow Jan. 6 Committee Democratic Rep. Jaime Raskin of Maryland for their obsession with former President Donald Trump.
“Remember what [Raskin] did between Trump being elected and being sworn in? He held a rally to say Trump needs to be impeached,” McCarthy said of a health care rally at Bowie State University.
“This is just the continuation. They’re obsessed with Trump and this is all they want to do. This hearsay would never be allowed in a court of law,” he added.
McCarthy previously stated that he would remove Schiff and Swalwell after Pelosi removed two GOP lawmakers — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) — from their committees.
“The Democrats have created a new thing where they’re picking and choosing who can be on committees,” McCarthy told Breitbart News in January. “Never in the history [of Congress] have you had the majority tell the minority who can be on the committee. But this new standard which these Democrats have voted for—if Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the private sector, there is no reason why he should be given one to be on Intel or Homeland Security. He will not be serving there.”
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