Eric Swalwell says House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rhetoric leads to death threats against his family
Rep. Eric Swalwell blamed Kevin McCarthy for death threats against his family in an MSNBC interview.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said his family has been threatened by people who "parrot" House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rhetoric.
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace asked Swalwell why McCarthy, R-Calif., stripped him from committees during a Wednesday appearance on "Deadline: White House."
"Oh, political vengeance," Swalwell said.
"You know, Kevin McCarthy seems to want to heat up the leftovers of a story that goes back to Barack Obama’s first term," he continued. "FBI has said three different times. In a rare form, they never talk about investigations, that all I did was help them — never suspected of wrongdoing."
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said his family has been threatened by people who "parrot" House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rhetoric. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool via REUTERS)
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Swalwell was apparently referring to his alleged ties to Fang Fang, a suspected Chinese spy. Beginning in 2014, Fang worked to develop "close ties" to Swalwell's office, according to Axios. McCarthy has said information he learned from an FBI briefing was the impetus to keep Swalwell off committees.
Swalwell cited a Washington Post fact-check in which McCarthy was handed Four Pinocchios suggesting Swalwell did something wrong when it came to Fang.
"The Axios article never says Swalwell did anything questionable," the Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote.
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Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Swalwell said the "consequences" of McCarthy’s claims are much greater than simply being left off key committees.
"It inspires these death threats. People parrot what Kevin McCarthy is saying when they call and make the threats," Swalwell said.
"He knows that, we’ve told this to him. I have told this to him. I have, you know, publicly broadcast to him that when you do this, it leads to threats to me, my wife, our kids," Swalwell continued. "Recently, someone said that they were going to rape and kill my children, and they were using the language that Kevin McCarthy was using."
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Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., blames "political vengeance" for rhetoric that he said resulted in death threats. (MSNBC screenshot)
Wallace then asked what McCarthy says when confronted with Swalwell’s claims.
"He doesn’t care," Swalwell said. "He wants to focus on carrying out the vengeance that he has promised."
McCarthy 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" in explaining his decision.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.