House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Friday he will file a resolution next week to remove California Democrat Eric Swalwell from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, an effort that a senior Democratic assistant called a “waste of time” that will get nowhere. lead.
“Pelosi has just reappointed Eric Swalwell as a member of the intelligence committee. Based on the briefing she and I received together, Swalwell should not be on the panel charged with guarding our country’s secrets,” McCarthy said. in a tweet
His tweet refers to a briefing from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and McCarthy received from the FBI on Dec. 18, 2020, about Swalwell’s contacts with a suspected Chinese intelligence agency, a McCarthy employee said.
According to a 2020 story from Axios, the agent named Christine Fang or Fang Fang contacted several Bay-Area politicians between 2011 and 2015 as part of an intelligence operation by the Chinese civilian spy agency. She helped fundraise for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign, helped place at least one intern in his office, and interacted with Congressman at multiple events.
Axios also reported that a current senior US intelligence officer did not believe that Fang had passed on or received classified information, and federal investigators warned Swalwell of her activities in 2015, after which he cut all ties.
At the time of the story, Swalwell’s office acknowledged that he had met Fang more than eight years ago and that he had provided information about her to the FBI when he was made aware of her identity. He hadn’t seen her in six years.
Following McCarthy’s tweet Friday, Swalwell said, “I would like to continue the important work of protecting Americans and supporting the hardworking heroes of our intelligence community, and thank Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Schiff for their support and trust.”
A senior Democratic aide said McCarthy’s resolution would be immediately “submitted” or rejected by Parliament, calling it “a waste of time.” Swalwell, the assistant said, had acted appropriately and was not accused of doing anything wrong.
“Republicans have to be very wary of starting such a thing,” the assistant warned. “Their conference is buzzing with fame.”
GOP lawmakers pointed to the story to try to discredit Swalwell when he served as one of the impeachment managers during the Senate trial for former President Trump last month and to warn that it would be grounds for stripping him of his committee duties if Republicans would retake power in the House – just as Democrats wanted to strip Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia from her committee duties earlier this year. Greene’s removal came after comments she made before her convention campaign in which she had expressed support for QAnon conspiracy theories and other racist and anti-Semitic comments.