House Democrat Blames Marjorie Taylor Greene for Homophobic Death Threat

California Rep. Eric Swalwell published a homophobic voicemail he received Thursday that echoed accusations from Republican members like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene about his relationship with a Chinese spy, and threatened violence against Swalwell’s children. 

Swalwell, who briefly ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, was one of several politicians with whom suspected Chinese intelligence officer Fang Fang developed ties between 2011 and 2015, Axios reported in 2020. 

Since then, Swalwell has been a frequent target of the right. On Thursday, Swalwell tweeted that a man in the Capitol told his son that Swalwell was “trouble” because he doesn’t “back Trump.” Swalwell also likened Trump supporters to a cult. 

Greene responded to the tweet, saying: “[W]e all know good Trump supporting fathers would say, ‘that’s the Democrat who had sex with a Chinese spy.’” 

Swawell shot back by posting a voicemail he’d received. “Hey, you little cocksucker. You still banging the Chinese spy Fang Fang and stinking up the fucking Capitol with your farts, you little cocksucker?” the man in the voicemail says.

“We’re coming to your house this weekend,” the man added. “Gon’ get you and them little mutant bastards, them little mutant offspring of yours. We’re gon’ get ya.”

Swalwell directly tied the voicemail to Greene’s rhetoric, calling her an “inciter of violence.” 

Fang helped fundraise for Swalwell’s re-election campaign in 2014, and helped place at least one intern in his office, but after federal investigators raised their concerns, Swalwell cut ties with her, Axios reported at the time. Swalwell has never been accused of wrongdoing or of having sex with the suspected Chinese officer. 

“[Greene’s] constant attacks—even after the FBI said I was never suspected of wrongdoing—lead to threatening calls like this,” Swalwell said. “This caller from today threatened to kill my three children.”

Greene has openly and repeatedly mocked Democratic Rep. Marie Newman’s transgender child, screamed at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and accused her of supporting “terrorists” on the House floor last year, and was removed from her House committee assignments in February 2021 for conduct including liking Facebook posts that advocated for the execution of Democratic politicians. 

But more recently, she’s claimed that she’s a victim herself, accusing the chief of staff of a House Democratic lawmaker on the House floor Tuesday of “attacking my office and my Christian faith” by placing a small sign saying “Pharisee is, as Pharisee knows” over a transphobic sign Greene has outside her office.

Greene said she wanted the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute the staffer. So far, they have not.

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