(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., got immediately triggered during a Capitol Hill hearing upon being reminded of his “checkered past.”
During a House Judiciary subcommittee session on Wednesday that focused on the human trafficking of minors at the southern border, the Trump-obsessed Democrat instead badgered border security advocate Sheena Rodriguez about the Jan. 6. uprising at the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, then called out Swalwell, impugning his motives by pointing to his past affair with a Chinese spy.
“Ms. Rodriguez, I apologize that you had to—you’re here for a hearing on the border,” Nehls said.
“They don’t want to talk about the border,” he continued. “Mr. Swalwell is down there, obviously, everybody knows he’s made some comments; he’s got a checkered past.”
Swalwell somehow wondered, “I’m sorry? A checkered past?”
“It’s my time. Alleged affairs, relationships with Yum Yum,” Nehls fired back.
Shouting “no” several times, Swalwell, who apparently found the GOP politician’s remarks less than appetizing, added “You do not get to say that s**t. That’s not true.”
“He had alleged relationships with Yum-Yum,” Nehls insisted, “and now he’s angry.”
Other Democrats on the subcommittee objected to Nehls’s remarks and wanted the Yum Yum mention yanked.
“It was a direct slur on a member of this committee that is not acceptable,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told committee chairman Tom McClintock, R-Calif.
McClintock then recessed the committee for two minutes to “consult the precedents,” the New York Post reported.
When the hearing resumed, Nehls agreed to rephrase his statement to “‘This is the same member that was removed from the Intelligence Committee that he previously served on”—but issued no apology.
Swalwell’s past relationship with Fang has been a point of controversy in past House proceedings, as well.
Upon gaining the gavel, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., made good on a campaign promise by booting Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee for undermining national security in connection with the scandal.
Earlier this month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also dropped a similar F-bomb on Swalwell.
This occurred during Homeland Security Committee hearing with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as the star witness.
As he concluded his round of questioning, Swalwell again went off on tangent by asking Mayorkas about supposed efforts by the GOP to cut FBI funding.
When her turn came, Greene looked over at Swalwell and said, with a smile, “That was quite entertaining from someone that had a sexual relationship with a Chinese spy. And everyone knows it.”
The committee then ground to a halt while chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., consulted staff about whether the arcane House rules allowed her words to be deleted from the record as Democrats who were present demanded.
Greene refused to retract her assertion, and eventually the chair ruled that her words would remain.
The sometimes controversial Greene wound up being silenced for the balance of the hearing, however, after calling Mayorkas a liar, which violated another House rule.
An impassioned MTG had accused the secretary of lying when he claimed that his agency was trying to stop deadly fentanyl from flooding into the U.S.
Bennie Thompson can call Republicans insurrectionists, terrorists, racists, and all kinds of other names but when he claims it’s not right to say factual things, my words get struck down by a Republican-controlled committee.
I’ll say it again, Secretary Mayorkas is a liar. pic.twitter.com/PAbDlfuuVx
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 19, 2023
According to Fox News, “The ‘taking down of words’ on the House floor or in committee is the equivalent of a parliamentary indictment. A Member might flag the conduct or ‘words’ of a fellow Member of not comporting with the rules of the House, engaging with appropriate decorum, bringing dishonor on the body or impugning the motives or character of a fellow lawmaker.”
