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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in follow up to earlier suggestions, reiterated this week that he would strip several Democrats of their committee assignments if the GOP assumes control of the House in the midterm elections.
The Democratic lawmakers named by McCarthy included U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.
“The Democrats have been creating a new thing where they’re picking and choosing who can be on committee,” McCarthy said in an interview with Breitbart News, which was published Monday. “Never in the history have you had the majority tell the minority who can be on committee.”
“If Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the private sector, there’s no reason why he should be given one to be on Intel or Homeland Security,” the GOP leader said. “So he will not be serving there.”
Chief among his transgressions, Swalwell reportedly fell into a Communist China honeytrap when he slept with suspected Chinese government spy Fang Fang, who managed to flee the country before their relationship came to light.
Swalwell took to Twitter to claim McCarthy was targeting him because he was “effective,” but Donald Trump Jr. responded to inform the attention-loving Democrat: “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you’re being ‘targeted’ because you we’re sleeping with a Chinese spy!!!” He included the hashtag, #FangFang.
LOL, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you’re being “targeted” because you we’re sleeping with a Chinese spy!!! #FangFang https://t.co/RHdEGKQHQI
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 10, 2022
“Ilhan Omar should not be serving on Foreign Affairs,” McCarthy continued, saying this is “a new level” where Democrats have gone — Omar, one of the first two Muslim women ever elected to Congress, has a rich history of anti-Semitic behavior.
“You look at Adam Schiff. He should not be serving on Intel when he has openly knowingly now used a fake dossier, lied to the American people in the process and doesn’t have any ill-will, says he wants to continue to do it,” McCarthy said.
The remark was a reference to the discredited Steele Dossier, which was reportedly used by the FBI to obtain surveillance warrants on former Trump aide Carter Page. As for the now debunked claim of Russian collusion hoax, Schiff insisted that there was “significant evidence” to prove the false charge.
Pointing to the collapse in Afghanistan under President Biden, McCarthy questioned whether Schiff, as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, was too focused on a sham impeachment of former President Donald Trump to see the warning signs. He also said that there are people coming across the wide-open southern border who are on the terrorist watch list, asking what has Schiff done about this.
“We need to have an Intel Committee that looks at what’s happening around the world and keeps America safe,” McCarthy explained. “It should do exactly what it was created [to do], overseeing of our agencies and others. So we’re going to hold people to a higher standard in the process, if they want to be on the intel committee…. take the politics out of it.”
McCarthy first “hinted” that he may remove some Democrats from committees back in November, in response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi censuring Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar and removing him from his committees over an anime video. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was also stripped of committee assignments over “past incendiary comments and apparent support of violence against Democrats,” as NPR characterized the reasons.
“Pelosi has set new policies. Those same members that I talked about in my speech voted for this new policy,” McCarthy said at a press conference in November, according to the Washington Examiner. “This isn’t about threats, but it’s about holding people accountable.”
“I think the majority is going to have to approve any of those members on the committees of which they can serve,” he added, speaking of Democratic lawmakers he noted in his speech — in addition to Omar and Swalwell, the GOP leader named House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries of New York, and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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