White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has peddled a bizarre conspiracy that Democrats hold onto “blackmail files” and use them against each other when convenient.
In a typically deranged appearance on Fox News, host Jesse Watters asked the top Donald Trump ally whether the president has talked about Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat who resigned from the House amid rape and sexual assault allegations.
“Why has he had a bad week, Jesse? I haven’t been watching,” Miller joked. “Swalwell is a scumbag. He is a terrible person, the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low, the most dishonest of the most dishonest.
“But the real story here is how the Democrat Party controls its members through blackmail. It’s got a blackmail file on all of its politicians, and it uses them to leverage and control them until it’s time to release it,” Miller added. “That is how sick and twisted the Democrat Party is.”
Miller made no effort to provide any evidence to back up his claims that Democratic lawmakers keep secret incriminating information on party members.
The claim was also widely mocked online. “Every Republican accusation is a confession,” Mehdi Hasan, the progressive broadcaster and CEO of Zeteo, posted on X while sharing a clip of Miller’s rant.
New Mexico state Rep. Joy Garratt added: “Honey, we hear rumors that Putin controls the president through blackmail. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Mr. Miller!”
Multiple Democratic figures had called on Swalwell to resign from office after the rape and sexual assault allegations emerged, which he denies.
Swalwell also suspended his California gubernatorial campaign after multiple women, including one of his former aides, accused him of sexual misconduct.
Swalwell is under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office over claims that he raped a woman in West Hollywood in July 2018.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell wrote in a Tuesday statement while announcing his congressional resignation.
“I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”
A short time later, MAGA lawmaker Tony Gonzales also announced his own plans to resign from Congress. Gonzales admitted to an affair with a staff member who later died last September by setting herself on fire.
Gonzales is also accused of demanding sexually explicit photos and sex from another staff member in 2020.
