Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a demand to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday, saying that two “eminently qualified legislators” should be reappointed to the Intelligence Committee, despite one’s alleged ties to a Chinese spy.
Jeffries claimed that Reps Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), have been providing oversight to the nation’s intelligence community for over two decades, and should continue to do so.
The demand comes after McCarthy announced plans to remove Swalwell and Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from seats on the Foreign Affairs committee.
McCarthy recently told Punchbowl News that “Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance,” adding that, “Schiff has lied too many times to the American public.”
McCarthy also categorized Omar’s outspoken, and frequent, criticism of Israel as borderline antisemitic.
Swalwell’s ties to suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, were first reported by Axios in December 2020, prompting House Republicans to draft the first resolution to remove Swalwell from the House Select Committee on Intelligence. That resolution was tabled by the Democrats.
Axios reported that Fang targeted up-and-coming politicians, including Swalwell, and assisted in their campaigning and fundraising. Swalwell was alerted by federal investigators of Fang’s behavior in 2015 and then cut off all ties with Fang. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, the report said.
Fang was allegedly part of Swalwell’s fundraising effort for his 2014 reelection campaign but did not make any donations, Intelligence officials say. She interacted with Swalwell numerous times over several years and even placed an intern in his office. After being found out, Fang reportedly fled the United States and returned to China.
Swalwell maintains that he did nothing wrong.
The three representatives made formal requests to the Steering Committee to be reinstated as members of the Intelligence committee and House Foreign Affairs committee this month, along with Jeffries’ plea.
“It is my understanding that you intend to break with the longstanding House tradition of deference to the minority party Intelligence Committee recommendations and deny seats to Ranking Member Schiff and Representative Swalwell,” Jeffries said. “The denial of seats to duly members of the House Democratic Caucus runs counter to the serious and sober mission of the Intelligence Committee.”
Jeffries cited the action taken by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the 117th congress in which two representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) were removed from their committees, saying they were removed following a bipartisan vote, after they directly incited violence against their colleagues during the violent insurrection and attack on the Capitol.
“It does not serve as precedent or justification for the removal of Representatives Schiff and Swalwell, given that they have never exhibited violent thoughts or behavior,” Jeffries said.
Swalwell touted his experience on the intelligence committee in his plea to be reappointed, but was fully aware that the House speaker may not allow that to happen.
“After conferring with Leader Jeffries, I write to request that I return as a Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” Swalwell said in a letter on Jan. 5. “It is not for the Speaker to decide to remove Members from committees based on fabricated stories or political revenge, and there is no basis for attempting to remove me, Adam Schiff, or Ilhan Omar from our committee assignments.”
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