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Pelosi needs to take action on Swalwell Chinese spy scandal with US facing security threats: Liz Cheney

2020-12-16 | 🔗
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney discusses the GOP push for Swalwell removal from the Intelligence Committee.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steve seventeen House, Republicans Steve seventeen House Republicans, including our next guest, sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday, demanding that Nancy Pelosi remove congressman Eric Swalwell of California from the Intel Committee over his ties to a suspected chinese spy who helped fund raise for him. Wyoming Republican, congresswoman and House GOP Conference chair Liz Cheney joins us right now from the rotunda congresswoman good morning to you good morning great to be with you guys, as always Steve good to have you as well. Does Eric Swalwell represent a national security hazard? I think that he does. I think there are real questions about the extent to which he was clearly cultivated. Financial support was provided by this bundling by this chinese spy sounds like she placed an intern in his office, and I think the real question is why Speaker Pelosi hasnt, taken action, youve watched her again and again treat herer responsibility over the intelligence committee with something less than seriousness.
At this moment where we face grave national security threats, not only has she let Congressman Swalwell stay on that committee, not taking action. She diverted the attention to that committee for months and months and months on to impeachment, instead of being focused on the threat from China, the threat of the coronavirus, for example, so I think its an issue of grave concern and she needs to take action and thats why we sent the letter Steve well. She said you know last week she wasnt concerned, but at the same time shes the one who heard from law enforcement or the Intel community that Swalwell had been. You know compromised by this chinese asset, but it was her judgment, even though she heard that to put him on the committee right- and I think you know, on the whole issue of the threat that China poses to the United States. This is a grave grave threat and weve got to have bipartisan agreement on being able to work together
to defend this nation across the board. From that threat, its one of the reasons it was so disappointing that the speaker said she wasnt going to participate in the China task force that the leader setup in the house, its one of the reasons. Frankly, why the National Defense Authorization ACT is so critically important. It has really important language in it that helps to protect against chinese industrial espionage, helps us to be much more independent, our supply chains and to protect our bases from the threat of chinese espionage. We really need to make sure across the board were defend, ing ourselves. Steve congresswoman weve been talking about the Swalwell case for a while, but we had Tom cotton on with us a little while ago, the senator from across the chamber there. I know Tom Steve, you do know Tom. We all know Tom, and I asked him. Why exactly did he think the New York Times has not even touched this story about Swalwell and China
and listen to Tom Cottons answer? I was told we had it, but apparently we dont so im going to go. I heard it the first time Steve. He said it makes you wonder how deeply in the pocket of chinese interest on these major media corporations the New York Times. Washington Post has gotten money from running chinese propaganda over the years, and many tv stations are owned or affiliated with major movie studios trying to get access to the chinese theatre market. In my Tom cotton voice in a quick way, there look theres, no question, look at things like the Mulan movie that came out recently where they actually thanked the chinese government entity that runs the concentration camps that the wegers are now in and look at things like the NBA, where players are absolutely condemned and not allowed to speak out in support of human rights in Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party, the chinese government, has managed to infiltrate at the
highest levels of our entertainment industry of our media. Certainly, weve got you know. We know theyve been engaged in the hack of personnel information, its a very serious, very significant threat and the fact that Speaker Pelosi refuses to address the situation with Congressman Swalwell shes, called it a diversion when weve said to her. We need to make sure were protected against this threat from China. She simply is not serious about the threat we, as a nation cannot afford to have somebody as a speaker of the house, whose not serious about the most important national security threat we face Steve. Do you worry? There are fellow members of Congress who may be right now influenced by China. Look, I think we all have to protect ourselves. We all have to assume we know from what weve seen publicly. We know what the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to do, and I think weve all got to assume that theyre targeting anybody that they can target weve got to make sure that people understand. Look. I think
that the coronavirus, the extent to which they caused that to be spread around the world has really shown a spotlight on the nature of that regime and has really focused the attention of not just people in the United States, but our allies around the world on the threat they pose and how important it is. We protect ourselves by moving supply chains by ending our dependence on the chinese government for things like rare earth, minerals how important it is that we make sure our allies do not allow Huawei to have access to their 5g systems. They are a real threat and they do not. We do not want to live in a world where the Chinese Communist Party sets the rules. That is a world in which their massive individual surveillance state is imposed on. All of us. Weve got to stand up against it. America has to lead the way in doing that. Steve and now some people are just finally waking up to the threat it has been posing for a while representative Cheney. Thank you very much for joining us have a safe trip, as you travel back to Wyoming, to be with your family over the holiday.
Transcript generated on 2020-12-17.