As we keep previewing, the upcoming November midterm elections are likely to result in a red wave. Should that be the case, and Republicans take control of Congress, committee membership is going to look rather different. If you've been asking why the likes of Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN), Eric Swalwell (CA), and Adam Schiff (CA) are privileged to have the committee assignments that they have, you would not be alone.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) during a press conference on Friday reiterated his issues with Rep. Schiff serving as chairman on the House Intelligence Committee. Should the GOP take control of the House, and they are predicted to do so, the role of chair would be filled by a Republican. Schiff, as McCarthy shared, won't be on the committee at all, though, as Chloe Folmar highlighted for The Hill.
What's the issue with Schiff? Well, where does one begin? In this case, it's the spreading of lies when it comes to the Hunter Biden laptop story. Not only had the mainstream media covered it up, and dismissed it as fake news, even censoring the story, but naturally Democrats did as well.
As Katie covered on Thursday, though, and as McCarthy mentioned in his press conference, The New York Times just recently confirmed the authenticity of Hunter Biden's laptop.
"At his press conference Friday, McCarthy accused Schiff of politicizing the committee, said he didn't warn the public about Ukraine or Afghanistan and alleged he lied about intelligence regarding President Biden's son Hunter Biden," Folmar mentioned.
"But the worst part of it is you cannot trust what he tells you," McCarthy said of Schiff. "That he lies to us. Just watch what has happened." He took issue with Schiff throwing out a talk pointing that the email from Hunter Biden's laptop were a "smear" and came from the Kremlin. McCarthy cited an October 2020 article for Fox News by Jonathan Turley, who testified as a Republican witness in committee for former President Donald Trump's first impeachment, as well as former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, that this was not the case.
"And what did we just find out yesterday from The New York Times," McCarthy continued. "Yes, it is Joe Biden's laptop. And yes, Adam Schiff lied to us one more time. Why is he still the chair of the committee and why is he on the committee? In a new Congress, if it's a new majority, he will not be. You cannot make this committee political, you cannot use it as a position of a chairman to lie, and you should be focused on what the American people want you to be focused on around the world," he continued.
.@GOPLeader: "What did we just find out yesterday from the New York Times? Yes, it is Joe Biden's laptop. And yes, Adam Schiff lied to us one more time. Why is he still chair of the Intelligence Committee? [...] In a new Congress, he will not be." https://t.co/mrz1gbsLBw pic.twitter.com/01Jc5GORvx
— The Hill (@thehill) March 18, 2022
McCarthy had also previewed removing the other members mentioned above earlier this year, as Matt covered in January. Omar, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committe, has a history of particularly anti-Semitic remarks. And Swalwell, who also serves on the House Intelligence Committee, has been associated with a Chinese spy.
The Democratic-controlled House has stripped Republicans of their committee memberships, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Paul Gosar (AZ). McCarthy had warned Democrats that there would be payback for such moves. Again, Democrats were the ones who set such a trend.