Rep. Banks: Pelosi Has Her Reasons to Keep Swalwell on Intel

Rep. Jim Banks, while demanding answers about Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., claimed Tuesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't removing Swalwell from his position on the House Intelligence Committee after news reports about his contacts with an alleged Chinese spy because she's either compromised or she wants his vote. 

"The fact that speaker Pelosi has yet to remove Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee tells us one of two things," the Indiana Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Either she too is compromised or secondly, that she needs Eric Swalwell's vote too badly for speaker of the House and she can't alienate him."

Later on Tuesday Banks joined with nearly 20 Republican House representatives in signing a letter to Pelosi demanding Swalwell's removal.

He also insisted to Fox News that if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was speaker instead of Pelosi, he would have removed any Republican if the situation were the same. 

The letter to Pelosi was signed by Banks, along with Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of  Louisiana, House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Jody Hice of Georgia, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Bob Gibbs of Ohio, Greg Murphy of North Carolina, Ron Wright of Texas, Ted Budd of Tennessee, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, Fred Keller of Pennsylvania, and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma. 

“Because of Rep. Swalwell’s position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, his close interactions with Chinese intelligence services, however unintentional they may be, are an unacceptable national security risk,” the letter says. “Rep. Swalwell withheld information for five years from the House Intelligence Committee about an ongoing Chinese espionage operation targeted at him and his own colleagues."

• Grenell: Gang of Eight Should Investigate Swalwell's Ties To Suspected China Spy
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