Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has no values and that he is doing anything to win the support of the Qanon caucus in the House.
Video:
Transcript via CNN’s State Of The Union:
BASH: As you well know, the man who is trying to be speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy, says that he wants to kick you off the Intelligence Committee, the committee that you now chair, because of your handling of the Trump-Russia investigation, and specifically that you repeatedly asserted that there was direct evidence of collusion, direct collusion, which didn’t materialize.
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What’s your response to McCarthy?
SCHIFF: McCarthy apparently doesn’t think it’s collusion if your campaign manager is giving inside polling data and battle strategy in key states to an agent of Russian intelligence, while the Russians are helping your campaign, but most Americans would call that collusion.
McCarthy’s problem is not with what I have said about Russia. McCarthy’s problem is, he can’t get to 218 without Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz. And so he will do whatever they ask. And, right now, they’re asking for me to be removed from our committees. And he’s willing to do it. He’s willing to do anything they ask.
And that’s the problem. Kevin McCarthy has no ideology. He has no core set of beliefs. It’s very hard not only to get to 218 that way. It’s even more difficult to keep 218. That’s his problem. So, he will misrepresent my record. He will misrepresent Eric Swalwell or Ilhan Omar, whatever he needs to do to get the votes of the QAnon caucus within his conference.
Kevin McCarthy’s only concern is with getting enough votes to be the next Speaker of the House. If he has to strip Schiff, Swalwell, and Omar of their committee assignments to get 218 votes, he’ll do it.
However, McCarthy will never be able to maintain power if he is at the constant mercy of the far-right fringe. America is about to go from one of the greatest speakers in history in Nancy Pelosi to a weak and hopeless shell of a man who is being set up to fail in spectacular fashion.
Rep. Schiff is reportedly eyeing a run for US Senate once Sen. Feinstein retires in California, so losing his committee assignments might not mean much to him. If Kevin McCarthy takes this action, it will say more about McCarthy than it does about Schiff.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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