GOP's fury at Eric Swalwell's appointment to impeachment hearing manager after 'compromising national security with Chinese spy tryst' - as he compares Trump to Bin Laden
Republicans have reacted with outrage after Nancy Pelosi appointed Congressman Eric Swalwell as one of nine impeachment managers - despite his having an alleged affair with a Chinese spy.
Swalwell further angered Donald Trump's allies by comparing the president to Osama Bin Laden.
The Californian congressman was asked on Wednesday about the difference between Trump whipping the Capitol rioters into a frenzy, and those who actually stormed the Capitol themselves.
'Osama Bin Laden did not enter U.S. soil on September 11, but it was widely acknowledged that he was responsible for inspiring the attack on our country,' Swalwell told PBS.
Eric Swalwell, a California congressman, on Wednesday appeared on PBS News
Swalwell told host Judy Woodruff that both Trump and Bin Laden inspired acts of violence
'And the president, with his words, using the word 'fight' - that is hate speech that inspired and radicalized people to storm the Capitol.'
When asked directly whether he was comparing Trump to Bin Laden, Swalwell replied: 'I'm comparing the words of a individual who would incite and radicalize somebody, as Osama Bin Laden did, to what President Trump did.
'You don't actually have to commit the violence yourself, but if you call others to violence, that itself is a crime.'
Swalwell, 40, was named among the nine impeachment managers on Tuesday.
He and his colleagues are in charge of making the case that the president should be impeached for a second time.
On Wednesday the House voted to impeach him. The motion will now pass to the Senate, which will not consider the matter until after Trump leaves the White House on January 20.
Swalwell on December 8 was reported by Axios to have been involved in a lengthy relationship with a woman later discovered to be a Chinese spy.
Swalwell was involved with Chinese spy Fang Fang until 2015, when the FBI told him about her
The operative had sexual relations with a series of American politicians
Swalwell has refused to say whether he was physically intimate with Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, during their friendship, asserting the matter is classified.
A number of top House Republicans signed a letter demanding that Pelosi remove Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee.
Pelosi and Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy were both briefed on the matter in 2015.
Swalwell was tipped off in 2015 that she was a Chinese agent.
She fled the country as the FBI investigated her and her infiltration efforts, which also saw her become friendly with other California politicians and have sex with two mayors from the Midwest, in encounters caught by FBI surveillance.
On Wedesday night, Tucker Carlson used his Fox News show to express astonishment at Swalwell's appointment.
'He doesn't sleep on national security threats, he sleeps with them,' Carlson said. 'It's for the greater good. Today Eric Swalwell, his wild intelligence oats once more.'
Carlson's guest, conservative author Mark Steyn, described him as being 'compromised' and 'playing for the other team'.
'Eric Swalwell, the Chinese Politburo's man on the impeachment management team,' Steyn said.
Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman for California, spoke out against Swalwell's appointment, as did Marjorie Taylor Green, the QAnon-promoting Republican congresswoman for Georgia.
'After China's #COVID19 virus has killed over 381,000 Americans, @SpeakerPelosi names @ericswalwell 1 of 9 impeachment managers,' she tweeted.
'Rep Swalwell had a sexual relationship with a CHINESE SPY!
'Dems might as well go public on how they are selling out to China!
'What a betrayal!'
Elise Stefanik, congresswoman for New York, said Swalwell was 'compromised by the Chinese Communist Party'.
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