WASHINGTON — Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is among those that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is threatening to keep off of House committees, an exceptionally rare move from a House Speaker.
In the case of Swalwell and colleagues Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), no vote has been held, and according to the rules outlined by the Republicans, the members haven't violated them.
"He put out an email today, a fundraising email saying, he's doing it because of our antics and he was trying to raise money off of it, which shows this is just about vengeance," Swalwell told Raw Story on Wednesday at the Capitol.
McCarthy claims that Democrats "set the precedent," which is false. In the past Congress, the full House voted to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from the Education Committee after she alleged a Jewish Space Laser was creating the California wildfires. Eleven Republicans also joined Democrats in the vote that ended with 230 to 199 voting to remove her.
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"If you didn't like the precedent are you saying that two wrongs make a right?" Swalwell asked. "It's only about vengeance."
McCarthy making the unilateral decision could set a precedent that could put future Republicans in a difficult position and give Democrats the freedom to kick a member off a committee without a vote.
'If you're a Republican member on the Intel Committee now, he just, basically guaranteed that your seat could be at risk in the new Congress," said Swalwell.
The House Intelligence Committee is supposed to be the most sacred of committees and the intelligence committee does background checks to determine the clearance levels of a given person. Such a background check doesn't check with the Speaker on their opinion.
The ordeal stems from a conspiracy that Republicans started that Eric Swalwell was part of a Chinese spy operation. The reality is that a Chinese spy tried to get close to Swalwell and when the FBI informed him who she was he immediately began helping the FBI. This was also many years ago and Swalwell is now married with children. It didn't happen in the past Congress or even the Congress before that. Reports on Swalwell on Fox from Tucker Carlson have resulted in death threats to Swalwell and his wife and children.