Finally, a Republican who did something! GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blasted a reporter Tuesday for refusing to listen to his substantive reasons for barring Dem. extremist and Chinese collaborator Eric Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee, and it is some fantastic, must-see video.
More than a year ago, McCarthy said that if he becomes speaker, he would block Democrat Swalwell and his extremist cohorts Adam Schiff (CA) and Ilhan Omar (MN), from certain sensitive committees such as the Intel Committee.
Contrary to the lies from the Democrats, this promise was not one he made during the deal-making that McCarthy engaged in to get enough support to be voted in as speaker early this month.
Lo and behold, McCarthy has actually fulfilled his promise. This week he has officially barred Swalwell and Schiff from the Intel Committee, both of whom served on that committee when the Democrats held the House majority. As to Omar, she served on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
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 has very specific and legitimate reasons to bar Swalwell and Schiff from the Intel Committee. He has said that the two are unfit to serve on the committee because they both engaged in direct and outright lies to the American people about Trump even though they knew full well that what they were saying were falsehoods because they were presented with the facts during Intel Committee meetings.
But McCarthy’s oft stated reasons for barring the two lying partisans from the committee were not good enough for the media. And on Tuesday, McCarthy finally had enough.
WATCH:
.@SpeakerMcCarthy to reporter: Let me be very clear & respectful to you. You ask me a question when I answer it it's the answer to your question. You don't get to determine whether I answer a question or not, okay? In all respect…what happens in the Intel Cmte you don't know. pic.twitter.com/WD57QB7m1v
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 25, 2023
Firstly, McCarthy noted that he is not acting in a partisan manner. Unlike Democrats who barred Republicans from committees in a partisan manner, McCarthy noted that he is not taking Democrats off all committees.
“This is not anything political. This is not similar to what the Democrats did,” McCarthy told reporters. “Those members will have other committees, but the Intel Committee, the Intel Committee’s responsibility” is national security, he said, adding, “I respect Hakeem Jeffries’s support of his conference and his people. But integrity matters.”
In the face of the reporter’s badgering, McCarthy explained:
You just raised a question, let me be very clear to you. The Intel Committee is very different; you know why? What happens in the Intel Committee — you don’t know. What happens in the Intel Committee, of the secrets that are going on in the world, other members of Congress don’t know
What did Adam Schiff do as the chairman of the Intel Committee? What Adam Schiff did [is] use his power as chairman and lied to the American public. Even the Inspector General said it. When Devin Nunes put out a memo, he said it was false. When we had a laptop, he used it before an election to be politics and say that it was false, and said it was the Russians, when he knew different, when he knew the intel. If you talk to John Ratcliffe, DNI, he came out ahead of time and said there was no intel to prove that, and he [Schiff] used his position as chairman — you know, when he knows he has information that the rest of America does not — and lied to the American public. When a whistleblower came forward, he [Schiff] said he did not know the individual, even though his staff had met with him and set it up.
So no, he does not have a right to sit on that. But I will not be like Democrats and play politics with these, where they removed Republicans from committees and all committees. So yes — he can serve on a committee, but he will not serve on Intel, because it goes to the national security of America. And I will always put them first, all right?
He also explained why he opposes Swalwell:
If you want to talk about Swalwell, let’s talk about Swalwell, because you have not had the briefing I’ve had. I had the briefing and Nancy Pelosi had the briefing from the FBI,” he said. “The FBI never came before this Congress to tell the leadership 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 [him]. 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. They brought it to the [leadership]. I got that briefing. So I do not believe he should sit on that [Intel] committee and I believe there’s 200 other Democrats that can serve on that committee.
McCarthy concluded with a perfect capper, saying, “But you know what? Those voters elected Schiff even though he lied; those voters elected Swalwell, even though he lied to the American public too, so you know what? I’ll respect his voters, too, and they’ll serve on committees. But they will not serve on a place that has national security,” McCarthy said, “because integrity matters to me. That’s the answer to your question.”
This really is some of the vest stuff we’ve seen from the GOP for a long time. Both perfect rhetoric AND actual actions to back it up.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
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