House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, to be “removed from Congress” following an explosive report this week about his connections to a suspected Chinese spy.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg because remember what we’re hearing, these are Chinese spies that go down to the level of a mayor, they court and help a city councilmember become a congressman, this congressman now gets on the Intel Committee,” McCarthy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “They are only selected for the Intel Committee by the leaders of their party, meaning Nancy Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi is one of the Gang of Eight, along with myself.”
“Did Nancy Pelosi know this had transpired when she put him on the Committee?” McCarthy continued. “We have our Senator Dianne Feinstein, for two decades, the personal assistant to hear all the private phone calls in the car and others, a Chinese spy.”
“Why did the Democrats pull out of the bipartisan China Task Force I had set up?” McCarthy continued. “Why did Speaker Pelosi pull out of that? Why have they denied certain bills that would hold China accountable that have passed Senate …? Why do [the Chinese] focus on Silicon Valley members of Congress? Why is he still on the Intel Committee and why is he still a member of Congress? Did Adam Schiff know as chairman of that Committee that [Swalwell] had this problem?”
McCarthy noted that members of the House Intelligence Committee gets classified information that other members of Congress do not get. McCarthy also questioned why Swalwell was attacking Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who has repeatedly warned that China is the largest threat that the United States faces.
“The only person attacking him is Swalwell,” McCarthy continued. “Now we learn why. Why is this person still there?”
“Remember what Swalwell said, he accused the president of everything that he did, by lying to the American public and sitting on the Intel Committee,” McCarthy said. “Not only should he be removed from the Intel, he should be removed from Congress as well.”
WATCH:
.@GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy on China planting a spy in Congress: @RepSwalwell should be "removed from Congress" [via @IngrahamAngle] pic.twitter.com/2m9c5tojcJ
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 9, 2020
Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on Tuesday night, “U.S. Intelligence officials believe Fang had a sexual relationship with Eric Swalwell.”
“We asked Swalwell’s office about that directly today, his staff replied by saying they couldn’t comment on whether or not Swalwell had sexual relationship with Fang because that information might be ‘classified,'” Carlson continued. “They did not elaborate or explain what they meant by that.”
Swalwell responded to the Axios report on alleged Chinese spy by suggesting without evidence that the Trump administration was behind the story. However, Axios never said that the story was leaked to them, but rather said that their story was the result of a “yearlong investigation.”
“I’ve been a critic of the president. I’ve spoken out against him. I was on both committees that worked to impeach him. The timing feels like that should be looked at,” Swalwell told Politico. “What it appears though that this person — as the story reports — was unsuccessful in whatever they were trying to do. But if intelligence officials are trying to weaponize someone’s cooperation, they are essentially seeking to do what this person was not able to do, which is to try and discredit someone.”