Democrat Ilhan Omar accused Speaker Kevin McCarthy of trying to remove her from the committee to appease former President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday’s editon of MSNBC’s “All In,’ Anchor Chris Hayes asked, “Why you? Why this three? Do you have an understanding of how this category of can’t sit on the committees was drawn?”
Omar said, “It’s a really good question. My hint is that it’s probably to appease Trump.”
“If you remember, when I was running for the Minnesota House seat, and Trump was running for president, he came to Minnesota and specifically talked about how Somali refugees should not enter our state, and certainly, we should not have any representation in government,” Omar added.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, if you remember in 2018, after I got sworn in, was in Congress talking about Muslim invasion,” she said.
“When you think about Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, these are two people who have led the impeachment efforts against Trump, who he also singled out,” Omar continued.
“If you think about the way in which these people have been vengeful, this sort of revenge and picking the three of us makes sense,” Omar added.
“It feeds their base. It responds to their donors. Obviously, McCarthy has been very specific in my case that this was a promise that he made to his donors,” she argued.
“He has publicly said at a conference to his donors that he is fulfilling the Congress at the promise he has made.”
“This in itself should be unethical for a speaker, for a leader to exchange dollars in removing duly elected member from the committee that they have history in.”
Ilhan Omar wrote on Twitter:
“Kevin McCarthy’s purely partisan move to strip me, @RepAdamSchiff, and @RepSwalwell from our committees is not only a political stunt, but also a blow to the integrity of our democratic institutions and a threat to our national security.”
On Wednesday, McCarthy confirmed both Schiff and Eric Swalwell of California would be removed, saying the decision was based on “integrity matters, and they have failed in that place.”
“I have rejected the appointments of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for the House Intelligence Committee,” McCarthy tweeted.
“I am committed to returning the House Intel Committee to one of genuine honesty and credibility that regains the trust of the American people.”
