Swalwell: McCarthy will regret removing me from House Intel panel

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will regret removing him and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., from the House Intelligence Committee and possibly removing Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“But we will not be quiet. We’re not going away. I think he’ll regret giving all three of us more time on our hands,” Swalwell said.

Tuesday night, Speaker McCarthy officially informed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., that he is rejecting the appointments of Schiff and Swalwell. 

I have rejected the appointments of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for the House Intelligence Committee.

I am committed to returning the @HouseIntel Committee to one of genuine honesty and credibility that regains the trust of the American people. pic.twitter.com/ePxlbanxta

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 25, 2023

McCarthy told Jeffries in a letter, “It is my assessment that the misuse of this panel during the 116th and 117th Congresses severely undermined its primary national security and oversight missions…”

“What Adam Schiff did, use his power as the chairman and lie to the American public. Even the inspector general said it,” McCarthy said. “The FBI never came before this Congress to tell the leadership of this Congress that Eric Swalwell had a problem with a Chinese spy until he served on Intel. So it wasn’t just us who were concerned about it. The FBI was concerned about putting a member of Congress on the Intel Committee, that has the rights to see things that others don’t, because of his knowledge and relationship with a Chinese spy.”

But Swalwell contends former Speakers Boehner, Ryan and Pelosi received the same FBI briefing and still decided to keep him on the committee. While Schiff said McCarthy is misrepresenting the FBI briefing.

“The hypocrisy just grabs you by the throat. This is a Republican speaker who is seating a human fraud, George Santos, on committees,” Schiff said.

McCarthy said if the Ethics Committee discovers Santos broke any laws, he will be removed from Congress entirely. As for Swalwell and Schiff, McCarthy said they can serve on other committees, but not intelligence.