McCarthy Accuses Matt Gaetz Of ‘Working With’ Democrat Eric Swalwell To Imperil His Speakership

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) took a dig at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Wednesday, accusing the lawmaker of working with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to undermine his speakership.

Gaetz has been openly critical of McCarthy, most dramatically in January when he repeatedly voted against him for speaker. The Florida congressman finally relented and voted ‘Present’ on the 15th ballot, which gave McCarthy the speakership

More recently, Gaetz expressed frustration with what he saw as a lack of urgency from McCarthy when it comes to a long-sought impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden. Last week, Gaetz even tweeted at Swalwell to inquire how many Democratic lawmakers might vote to oust McCarthy, but was rebuffed.

The speaker caved this week by opening an impeachment inquiry, but Gaetz remained dissatisfied, calling it a mere “baby step.”

CNN’s Manu Raju caught up with McCarthy on Wednesday to ask him about the drama.

“Matt is working with Eric Swalwell, but let me be very clear,” McCarthy said. “Matt is upset about an ethics complaint. I don’t care what they threaten against me. I’m not gonna interject into an independent committee like ethics, and I’m not going to put Swalwell back on the Intel committee. So, they can do whatever they want.”

McCarthy was referring to a probe currently being conducted by the House Ethics Committee into Gaetz. The investigation centers on possible sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and lobbying violations. Regarding Swalwell, House Republicans removed him from the Intelligence Committee this year along with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Watch above via CNN.