Democrat representatives voted to kill a motion from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell of California from his position on the House Intelligence Committee over his relationship to a spy for communist China.
House votes to table or kill McCarthy resolution to remove Swalwell from Intel Committee
This vote was one step removed from an actual up/down vote to remove Swalwell
The vote was 218-200.
All Democrats voted to table.
3 Republicans voted “present.”
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 19, 2021
The vote comes shortly after McCarthy filed a resolution insisting that Swalwell abandon his position on the Intelligence Committee, which he was recently reappointed to by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, because he “has not denied public reporting that a suspected Chinese intelligence operative helped raise money for Representative Swalwell’s political campaigns and facilitated the potential assignment of interns into Representative Swalwell’s office.”
McCarthy also noted that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation admitted in 2020 that communist China “engaged in a highly sophisticated malign foreign influence campaign” employing similar methods to those used against Swalwell.
I have filed a resolution to remove Rep. Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee.
Swalwell engaged in a years-long relationship with a suspected Chinese spy, and his conduct makes clear he has no place serving on the committee in charge of America's top secrets. pic.twitter.com/8Tb9TOh976
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 18, 2021
You are required to disclose relationships with foreign nationals in Section 19 of the SF-86 form for a security clearance in the private sector.
Given the nature of Swalwell's relationship with a reported Chinese spy, he wouldn't qualify. Why is he still on the Intel Committee? pic.twitter.com/zRjlf7j3E4
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 18, 2021
Swalwell rejected McCarthy’s resolution and accused him of supporting QAnon.
Meet the New McCarthyism. Multiple sentences in resolution state “Swalwell has not denied…” Yet fails to include multiple FBI statements of “no wrongdoing” and did nothing but “cooperate.” All of this to deflect from @GOPLeader’s support for QAnon. https://t.co/2bsU72ev8H
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 18, 2021
Despite Swalwell’s insistence he did nothing wrong, a report released in December suggested that Chinese spy Christine Fang, leveraged her position and connections in California’s Bay Area for years to cultivate deep connections with U.S. Democrat politicians to gather intelligence and send it back to communist China.
Fang specifically developed a relationship with Russia hoaxer Swalwell, who began serving on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and as a ranking member of its Central Intelligence Agency Subcommittee in 2015. Fang reportedly raised millions for Swalwell’s re-election in 2014 and placed at least one intern in his Washington, D.C. office.
Swalwell previously refused to answer The Federalist’s questions about the extent of his relationship with Fang who monitored and gathered intelligence on U.S. Democratic politicians on behalf of communist China.
When asked whether Swalwell’s position on the House Intelligence Committee would be tainted or compromised by his relationship with Fang, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff also did not reply.
