Newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) formally rejected two of the three Democratic congressmen he formally said he said he would, including Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), but leaving out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN.)
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
In his statement barring the two from serving on particular House committees, McCarthy said:
“I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more,”
“As such, in order to maintain a standard worthy of this committee’s responsibilities, I am hereby rejecting the appointments of Representative Adam Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell to serve on the Intelligence Committee,” McCarthy added.
When Rep. Schiff was asked by MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, whether he has ever taken any classified documents or records home, Schiff replied:
“This is what’s so astounding, I think, for all of us on the Intelligence Committee. I never take classified documents to my house… I don’t know any reason why people would.”
“I am so paranoid when I go into the SCIF and out of the SCIF to make sure I’ve got no electronics on the way in, that I’ve got nothing with me on the way out. I am very, very careful about it, and I would assume that everyone else is, but clearly there’s a problem here.”
Why Eric Swalwell was removed from House committee positions:
When speaking about Swalwell, McCarthy said, “Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance,”
It comes as so surprise that Swalwell immediately took to Twitter to complain about the situation:
#BREAKING Rep. @ByronDonalds admits on @thereidout that @SpeakerMcCarthy is kicking me, @RepAdamSchiff, and @Ilhan off our committees purely out of vengeance.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 11, 2023
However, it’s likely that vengeance played no role in this decision whatsoever. Swalwell is someone who’s proven to not be trustworthy with sensitive information, as he is alleged to have slept with a Chinese spy who was serving for him as a campaign staffer. Even years removed from the accusations, Swalwell refused to answer whether or not he had intimate relations with “Fang Fang,” despite being a married man.
Fang Fang was in the west coast area political scene from 2011 until 2015, and is alleged to have slept with at least two Midwest Mayors as part of a yearslong Chinese intelligence campaign. During this time, she worked with Swalwell as well, and Swalwell has not been clear whatsoever about the alleged interaction between him and the Chinese spy.
Swalwell would go on to this last night, saying:
“This rejection is based on a claim that the Washington Post independent-fact checker gave 4 Pinocchios,”
“Speaker [John] Boehner and [Paul] Ryan, both Gang of 8 members, appointed me to Intel with access to the same facts McCarthy is distorting. He can keep me off Intel, but I’m not going away.”
This rejection is based on a claim that the Washington Post independent-fact checker gave 4 Pinocchios. Speaker Boehner and Ryan, both Gang of 8 members, appointed me to Intel with access to the same facts McCarthy is distorting. He can keep me off Intel, but I’m not going away. https://t.co/YQZOVCSJpO
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 25, 2023
Why Adam Schiff was removed from House committee positions:
When discussing Adam Schiff, McCarthy said, “Schiff has lied too many times to the American public. He should not be on Intel.”
Adam Schiff has frequently attempted to pass the Steele dossier as true, and just this week another Twitter Files release showed that Schiff’s office attempted to get a whistleblowing journalist thrown off of Twitter. Schiff has stated that he ‘doesn’t regret’ pushing the Steele dossier, and has not commented on the recent news showing his office attempted to convince tech giants to remove a journalist for posting accurate news.
Paul Sperry, a reporter for Real Clear Investigations and a NY Post columnist, alleged that Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff violated his First Amendment rights, and personally attempted to have Sperry removed from Twitter by directly requesting Twitter to remove the account of Journalist Paul Sperry.
Sperry tweeted:
“This is the oath @AdamSchiff violated: – “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution [incl the First Amendment]; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion”
This is the oath @AdamSchiff violated:
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution [incl the First Amendment]; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion"— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) January 8, 2023
Sperry, in a separate Tweet, would go on to add:
“This is the oath @AdamSchiff violated: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution [incl the First Amendment]; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion“‘
NOV 2020: Schiff demands Twitter ban me, remove whistleblower content; Twitter pledges to “review” my account — “again” (?!)
JAN 2021: J6 riot
FEB 2021: Schiff demands RCI retract my whistleblower stories from year earlier, invoking J6 “violence.” RCI declines. Twitter bans me
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) January 8, 2023
In an information dump, one of the many Twitter files, emails were released through Substack journalist Matt Tabbi’s Twitter account to the public from Rep. Adam Schiff and his office, showing that he and his office attempted to personally meddle with who Twitter allows having a voice and who he believes shouldn’t be allowed First Amendment rights. Even going as far as to attack individual Twitter accounts, and not just types of content such as “QAnon,” “Jan. 6” etc.
Schiff would go on to Tweet last night, saying:
“This is petty, political payback for investigating Donald Trump. If he thinks this will stop me, he will soon find out just how wrong he is. I will always defend our democracy,”
Kevin McCarthy just kicked me and @RepSwalwell off the Intelligence Committee.
This is petty, political payback for investigating Donald Trump.
If he thinks this will stop me, he will soon find out just how wrong he is.
I will always defend our democracy.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 25, 2023
Why Ilhan Omar was initially to be removed from House committee positions:
Ilhan Omar was to be removed from House committee seats due to her stance on Israel and the inflammatory comments she’s made. Critics from both sides called Omar’s comments on the cusp of antisemitic due to her use of tropes.
Ultimately, McCarthy decided against removing Rep. Omar from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee because that move would require a House FLoor vote to accomplish. The move was likely unnecessary and not as immediately necessary as the removal of Reps. Schiff and Swalwell, as they’ve both shown they lack the ability to serve their positions with integrity, as opposed to Rep. Omar, who displayed a potential for prejudice and unfavorable opinions.
