House Democrats and Republicans reached a rare bipartisan consensus to gag Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday after she accused a colleague of sleeping with a Chinese spy and called Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a “liar” in a tense hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“It concerns me that there is this anti-police rhetoric that’s happening among some of the MAGA Republican Party because they vote against police funding that was included in the Covid relief package,” California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell said while questioning Mayorkas, referencing a social media post by Greene calling for the FBI to be stripped of funding over its alleged politicized targeting of conservatives. “They vote against police reform efforts that would put millions of dollars in community police officers on our street,” Swalwell added.
“That was quite entertaining from someone that had a sexual relationship with a Chinese spy and everyone knows it,” Greene retorted, responding to Swalwell’s comments and referencing a 2020 report that the California congressman had had an affair with a Chinese national suspected by the FBI of being a Chinese spy. Swalwell denied any wrongdoing at the time.
Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee immediately demanded that Greene’s words be stricken from the record after she refused to withdraw them. “Accusations of an affair with a Chinese spy. Those are engaging in personalities and those words should be taken down and the gentlelady should not be able to speak anymore in this hearing,” New York Democrat Dan Goldman said.
Committee chairman Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee, rejected the motion, and Greene continued.
Just moments later, Greene got into trouble again after accusing Mayorkas of “lying” about his office’s efforts to battle the illegal flow of deadly fentanyl into the United States via Mexico.
“You’re a liar. You are letting this go on and the numbers prove it,” she said.
Ranking Committee Member Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, interjected and motioned to strike down her remarks, saying Greene was using “the kind of language that historically we as members of this committee” do not use. This time, Chairman Green agreed, saying it was “pretty clear that the rules state you can’t impugn someone’s character,” and blocking Greene from speaking.
Greene is no stranger to racking up controversy over her sharp remarks. Earlier this week, she accused the “Biden crime family” of engaging in human trafficking. Before that, she got into trouble for calling Democrats “pedophiles” who support the sexualization of children. Last week, after it was revealed that the Pentagon documents on the conflict in Ukraine were leaked by a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, Greene tweeted that the guardsman was an “enemy of the Biden regime” for being “white, male, Christian and antiwar.” Earlier this month, Greene was attacked by Democrats for “bigotry” for speaking in defense of Donald Trump after his arraignment in New York over a hush money payment to a former porn star.
Former CIA director John Brennan attacked Greene over her defense of the airman, and recommended that she should be stripped of access to any sensitive, classified information.