A House Homeland Security Committee hearing erupted into chaos on Wednesday when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) accused Rep. Eric Swalwell of having a “sexual relationship with a Chinese spy,” prompting Democrats to unsuccessfully call for the removal of her remark from the record.

The contentious exchange began when Swalwell criticized Greene for her “anti-police rhetoric” and displayed a print-out of a tweet she had posted promoting “Defund the FBI” merchandise in response to alleged bureau bias.

Greene retaliated by referring to Swalwell’s purported affair with Fang Fang, a suspected Chinese agent. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) immediately objected to Greene’s statement, calling it “completely inappropriate” and requesting its removal from the record.

Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) inquired which words Goldman wished to delete, to which Goldman cited Greene’s accusations of Swalwell’s affair with a Chinese spy. After several minutes of consideration, Green ruled that the contested words would not be stricken from the record.

Democrats protested the decision, with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) voicing his disappointment: “I don’t think there’s any question about what the gentlelady has said… We have never had an accusation made of any member like that, and I’m appalled by it. We all ought to be embarrassed by it.”

When Thompson appealed the ruling, Republicans on the committee voted to table the motion, effectively denying it and ensuring that the accusation remained in the meeting’s official transcript.

It remains unclear if Swalwell has ever explicitly denied having a sexual relationship with Fang, who reportedly returned to China in 2015 as US authorities became aware of her activities.

Swalwell received a “defensive briefing” from the FBI in 2015 after Fang allegedly fundraised for his campaign and placed an intern in his office.

The majority of Swalwell’s GOP colleagues, including those on the House Intelligence Committee, were unaware of his ties to Fang before a 2020 Axios report exposed her operation.

House Republicans removed Swalwell from the intelligence committee this year, citing the relationship.

During the same hearing, Greene also went after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for not doing more to address the record-high number of US drug overdose deaths caused by fentanyl smuggled from China.

Greene questioned Mayorkas about the duration of what she called an “outrage” in which China is “poisoning America’s children.”

Mayorkas responded that they were “fighting the scourge,” to which Greene accused him of lying and allowing the situation to continue.

Chairman Green agreed to strike Greene’s attack on Mayorkas from the record, in accordance with House rules, prohibiting her from speaking further during the hearing.

Between 2018 and 2021, approximately 196,000 Americans died from fentanyl. Although complete figures for 2022 are not yet available, they are estimated to remain near the record of around 71,000 US fentanyl deaths the previous year.