Kevin McCarthy Denies Committee Seats To Eric Swalwell And Adam Schiff

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has avenged Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) by blocking two Democrats from serving on a House committee.

McCarthy announced Tuesday he would refuse to seat Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff of California on the House Intelligence Committee — pure political payback for Democrats removing Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) from committees in 2021.

In a when the House voted to boot Gosar from committees after he posted a weird cartoon video depicting himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

McCarthy can unilaterally deny seats on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence because the speaker has more control over select committees than standing committees. He has also threatened to block Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from committees, but doing so would likely require a House vote.

In a Sunday letter to McCarthy, Jeffries said removing Republicans from committees for their threatening behavior toward colleagues shouldn’t be used as a precedent for removing Swalwell and Schiff. He described the appointment of “serial fraudster” George Santos (R-N.Y.) to two committees as a double standard.

McCarthy insisted Tuesday that a secret briefing he’d received from the FBI warranted Swalwell’s removal from the intel committee.

“The FBI was concerned about putting a member of Congress on the intel committee — that have the rights to see things that others don’t — because of his knowledge and relationship with a Chinese spy,” McCarthy said.

What’s publicly known about the allegation stems from a 2020 Axios story that said a Chinese spy ingratiated herself with elected Democrats from 2011 through 2015, including by raising money for Swalwell’s reelection, and that Swalwell immediately ceased all contact with the person after the FBI briefed him. The story didn’t lay out any wrongdoing by Swalwell.

McCarthy offered a list of grievances against Schiff, the former chair of the intelligence committee, including a dubious claim that he personally knew the whistleblower who sparked the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

In a joint statement, Swalwell, Schiff and Omar said McCarthy had “capitulated to the right wing” of the Republican Party and struck a corrupt bargain “that required political vengeance against the three of us.”