Boebert rebukes Swalwell for tweet linking her to Highland Park shooter

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) slammed Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) for posting a tweet seemingly linking her to the suspected gunman at Monday’s mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois.

Boebert derided Swalwell as “desperate” and targeted him after he tweeted a picture of her holding a rifle alongside an image of the alleged shooter, Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, with the caption, “Let’s start drawing straight lines.”

“I get that Eric Swalwell isn’t a fan of our constitutional rights and is desperate to distract from his repeated political failures, but the only straight line that needs to be drawn is from Eric Swalwell to Fang Fang to the Chinese Communist Party,” the congresswoman said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

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Boebert was referring to Swalwell’s past association with a suspected Chinese spy named Fang Fang, also known as Christine Fang, with whom he has been accused of having a sexual relationship — a charge he has not denied. Fang is also alleged to have placed an intern in Swalwell’s office and assisted with fundraising efforts for the congressman’s 2014 reelection campaign, all while apparently working as an operative on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s rough equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Boebert went on to suggest that Swalwell could face scrutiny from Republicans for his relationship with the suspected Chinese agent if the GOP wins the House majority in November.

“I will make sure that line gets drawn when we take back the House. Law-abiding gun owners won’t be smeared and disarmed every time a California failed presidential candidate rolls out of bed with a Chinese spy and tries to blame us for the conduct of others,” she said.

Boebert later posted a separate tweet responding to Swalwell, linking the congressman with Fang and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Swalwell defended his criticism of Boebert and her “pro-killer colleagues” in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

“We are a country of unrestricted weaponry where the most dangerous people have access to the most dangerous weapons. No elected leader in America fetishizes a dangerous person’s access to military-style weapons more than Rep. Boebert,” he said. “We are not going to stop calling her and her pro-killer colleagues out.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), along with a swath of other top Republican lawmakers, has previously indicated that Swalwell would face penalties in a GOP-led House over his relationship with Fang. After Democrats stripped Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) of their committee assignments due to past statements made by the lawmakers, McCarthy said Swalwell should be stripped of his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.

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It remains unclear whether Swalwell can provide evidence to substantiate his claim that the shooter’s actions were motivated by or could be linked to Boebert’s pro-gun views.

Police say Crimo carried out the massacre that left six people dead and dozens more wounded at a community Fourth of July parade.