House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has officially selected Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to the House Intelligence Committee. This is despite Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) promises he would not let that happen, setting up quite the likely showdown between the two party leaders. Earlier this afternoon, Rep. Schiff responded over Twitter, with just the kind of response you'd expect.
Proud to be nominated by @RepJeffries as the top Dem on the Intel Committee.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 23, 2023
McCarthy’s threat to remove me — to placate his right-wing — will damage the committee’s independence.
Along with his committee on conspiracy theories, he is doing grave damage to national security. pic.twitter.com/h42Er5r01w
The tweet includes a letter from Jeffries to McCarthy making his case to name Schiff and Swalwell to the committee. Schiff has served as chairman before and is looking to be made the ranking member.
It cannot be emphasized enough that McCarthy had been promising for months that he would remove the California Democrats from the committee should Republicans take control of the House. The same promise goes for removing Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who is expected to be named to that committee next week, as Punchbowl News reported in their Monday morning newsletter.
Without evidence, Schiff claims that McCarthy has a "committee on conspiracy theories" and that "he is doing grave damage to national security."
When it comes to McCarthy's reasoning for not allowing Schiff to serve on the committee, he has pointed to how the congressman lied to the American people about the Ukrainian whistleblower. Speaking of "conspiracy theories," he also has harped on the Russia Collusion narrative.
As our friends at Twitchy highlighted, Twitter users pointed out how it was particularly absurd that the congressman would whine about conspiracy theories.
Schiff talking about conspiracy theories...laughable 🤣 https://t.co/5oqA9c0qW5
— Racin' Momma MN 🏁 (@Team14k_Mom) January 23, 2023
"You can't do this do us! Only we can do this to you!"
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) January 23, 2023
One of Congress’s top conspiracy theorists- the discredited and disgraced Congressman Adam Schiff is accusing Speaker McCarthy of engaging in conspiracy theories. This is so rich, I’m going to get cavities in all of my teeth. https://t.co/hGUGbLqEzJ
— Brian Doherty (@BDOH) January 23, 2023
Is this a parody account?
— Elisa Martinez (@elisa1121) January 23, 2023
Swalwell also responded over Twitter, in an even whinier manner.
Honored to be re-nominated by @RepJeffries to the Intel Committee. McCarthy's threat to remove me, out of political vengeance, destroys the committee's independence. Worst, his justification is based on lies @washingtonpost’s fact-checker gave 4 Pinocchios. He has no credibility pic.twitter.com/rO9z3cNzQc
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 23, 2023
Such a tweet, which also shares Jeffries' letter, calls to mind that Swalwell believes he is being kicked off of the committee due to "political vengeance," and not for cause McCarthy has made clear he believe has. During a press briefing earlier this month, the speaker spoke about an FBI briefing he received that concerned him when it comes to Swalwell being named to any committee, let alone the Intelligence Committee.
The Washington Post fact-check in question, which Swalwell tweeted about previously, even using expletives from his official account, is particularly partisan and biased, as was covered at the time. If Swalwell wants to talk about "no credibility," the fact-check sounds like it could have been written by someone associated with Swalwell's communications team.
"Schiff and Swalwell" has been trending on Twitter as a result of Jeffries' move.