House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) of colluding with Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) to undermine his speakership.
Gaetz, who never supported McCarthy for speaker since the beginning of the new Congress, grew frustrated with McCarthy for stalling on launching impeachment proceedings against Biden.
Gaetz even went as far as to threaten to oust McCarthy as speaker and asked Swalwell in a tweet if Democrats would support his move.
McCarthy caved Tuesday and launched an impeachment inquiry, but Gaetz was still not satisfied, calling the move “baby steps.”
Asked for comment on Wednesday McCarthy told CNN: “Matt is working with Eric Swalwell, but let me be very clear. 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.”
Gaetz is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Florida lawmaker fired back in an interview with MSNBC, vehemently denying that he asked for McCarthy’s help with the ethics investigation.
That is an “abject lie from a sad and pathetic man who lies to hold onto power,” Gaetz said.
“I am the most investigated man in the entire Congress, and right there you saw Kevin McCarthy lying like a dead dog because I have never asked him to interfere in any ethics matter,” he added.
