WASHINGTON — Tempers flared at a House hearing Wednesday after a Republican lawmaker went off on Rep. Eric Swalwell over his ties to a suspected Chinese spy, prompting the Democrat to fire back: “You do not get to say that s–t.”
The Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement hearing turned bad-tempered after Swalwell (D-Calif.) spent his question time interrogating border security advocate Sheena Rodriguez about her presence on the Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
At one point during Swalwell’s grilling of the witness, a Republican lawmaker asked him to yield, but he declined and continued until his time expired.
That’s when Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) stepped in.
“I apologize that you had to — you’re here for a hearing on the border, [Democrats] don’t want to talk about a border,” Nehls told Rodriguez, who was at the hearing to testify about the exploitation of migrant children she claimed to have witnessed during more than three dozen visits to the US-Mexico border.
“Mr. Swalwell is down there, obviously everyone knows he’s made some comments,” Nehls continued.
“He’s got a checkered past. His alleged relationship –“
“I’m sorry, a checkered past?” Swalwell interjected.
“It’s my time!” Nehls responded. “Alleged affairs — relationship — with Yum-Yum.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Swalwell shouted.
“You do not get to say that s–t. That’s not true.”
“He had alleged relationships with Yum-Yum,” Nehls continued, “and now he’s angry.”
Nehls was referring to purported honeytrap Christine Fang, also known as “Fang-Fang,” who entered the US as a college student in 2011 and allegedly spent the next four years wooing lawmakers to get close to sensitive government intelligence.
The alleged affair cost Swalwell his place on the House Intelligence Committee earlier this year, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) telling Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) that Swalwell and fellow California Democrat Adam Schiff had “severely undermined [the committee’s] primary national security and oversight missions — ultimately leaving our nation less safe.”
As Swalwell and Nehls bickered Wednesday, subcommittee ranking member Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called for the Republican’s comments to be stricken from the record.
“It was a direct slur on a member of this committee that is not acceptable,” Jayapal told Chairman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), who recessed the committee for two minutes to “consult the precedents.”
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.
The debacle took place a week after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) sidetracked a House Homeland Security Committee hearing by saying that Swalwell “had a sexual relationship with a Chinese spy — and everyone knows it.”
As on Wednesday, one of Swalwell’s fellow Democrats — Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn Rep. Daniel Goldman — moved to strike the words from the record.
However, in Greene’s case, Republicans on the committee declined to remove or alter her statement.
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