Appearing for an interview on MSNBC on Thursday, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) slammed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as a “weasel” and said he doesn’t expect the Republican leader to cooperate with the Jan. 6 Special Select Committee.
The California Democrat also addressed the recent debate with McCarthy about meeting with D.C. Metro Police Officer Michael Fanone who has put in multiple requests to meet with.
“He said it feels like Groundhog Day because he just wants to meet with Kevin McCarthy,” Swalwell told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace. “He thinks it would be easier to meet with him than the 21 individual meetings he would have to take with the people who voted against giving police a gold medal. He thought McCarthy is the leader of the party. If he could convey to him what happened that day maybe McCarthy could talk every member into supporting a gold medal to honor those officers. this is not about politics. Officer Fanone and so many others put their lives in front of ours so Kevin McCarthy could go to a secure, safe location. We owe it to them to look them in the eye and give them our thanks.”
Asked what he anticipates McCarthy will do if he is subpoenaed to appear before the select committee, Swalwell told Wallace:
“Be a weasel, that’s what he always does,” Swalwell said frankly. “We considered this during impeachment. We learned that McCarthy had a sense of what Donald Trump’s state of mind was on Jan. 6 when he was complaining that McCarthy didn’t do enough to defend him. When McCarthy wanted Trump to call off the mob but he wasn’t waving his hands saying I’m going to come in and help you understand. He flipped from what he said in the days after condemning Donald Trump to going down to hanging out with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Yeah, he’s going to be a weasel. And so it’s important to really find out from other witnesses around him who may be more forthcoming exactly what Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump knew.”
See the video below:
