Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) shared a tweet featuring a death threat he received via voicemail — a message the California Democrat said was inspired by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “spreading lies” about him.
In a tweet posted on Thursday, Swalwell shared audio from a voicemail telling the Democrat his removal from House committees should be “the least of your problems,” noting that voters wanted the lawmaker “dead.”
DEMS DISSED: ILHAN OMAR, ADAM SCHIFF, AND ERIC SWALWELL CONFIRMED TO LOSE POWERFUL POSITIONS
“The American people aren’t going to be happy until we see you f***ing hanged by the neck until death,” the man said. “Dead. Dead. Legally. Through trial. Have a nice swing, a**hole.”
This death threat is what happens when the FBI *repeatedly* says I have done nothing wrong and yet Kevin McCarthy persists in spreading lies about me out of pure vengeance. pic.twitter.com/duQWNIoBoL
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 12, 2023
Swalwell responded to the voicemail, maintaining he hasn’t done anything wrong and that the threat was inspired by “lies” from McCarthy.
“This death threat is what happens when the FBI *repeatedly* says I have done nothing wrong and yet Kevin McCarthy persists in spreading lies about me out of pure vengeance,” Swalwell said in a tweet, referring to McCarthy’s vow to remove him from the House Intelligence Committee.
McCarthy confirmed on Monday that several high-profile Democrats such as Swalwell would be stripped of their committee assignments in retaliation for the removal of some Republicans from their panels in the last Congress.
Swalwell has been under scrutiny by Republicans after it was reported in 2020 that a suspected Chinese spy had developed relations with the California Democrat in what U.S. officials believe was an extensive political intelligence operation run by China between 2011 and 2015. A spokesperson for Swalwell said at the time he had not interacted with the operative in roughly six years, and the California Democrat has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Still, McCarthy has maintained Swalwell should be stripped of his committee position.
“Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector,” McCarthy told Fox News in mid-November. “Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on Intel.”
McCarthy has also vowed to remove other Democrats from their assignments, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Members can be removed from their committee assignments simply through a majority vote, according to House rules. Removing lawmakers from their committee assignments was once considered a rare and uncommon occurrence, but the practice has been used more frequently in the last 20 years to punish members for their conduct.
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The Washington Examiner contacted McCarthy for comment in response to Swalwell’s tweet.
