McCarthy: Schiff 'lied' about Hunter Biden's emails, won't be on Intel committee in GOP House

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said Friday that Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff won't be a member of the House Intelligence committee that he leads if the GOP takes control of the chamber – saying he "lied" about Hunter Biden's emails and other critical matters.

"No, he doesn't warn us about Ukraine or Afghanistan or what's happening around the world," McCarthy said about the California Democrat. "He tells you about politics, but the worst part of it is you cannot trust what he tells you, that he lies to us.

Democrats and others during the 2020 presidential race between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden dismissed the validity of a laptop belonging to Biden's son Hunter Biden and the emails found on it. 

"Two years ago, Schiff stated the emails found from Hunter Biden were all a whole smear on Joe Biden and comes from the Kremlin," McCarthy continued. "That's what the head of Intel said." 

McCarthy spoke days after a New York Times' story confirmed the emails were from Hunter Biden's laptop.

"Adam Schiff lied to us one more time," McCarthy said. "Why is he still chair of the committee? And why is he even on the committee? In a new Congress, if it's a new majority, he will not be. You cannot make this committee political. You cannot use it as a position of a chairman to lie.

"And you should be focused on what the American people want you to be focused on around the world. How did you miss Afghanistan collapsing? How did you miss Ukraine? How have you missed every single part? Why? Because you're out lying about an impeachment and everything else."

McCarthy, in his weekly press conference, also was asked for his reaction to North Carolina GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorne referred to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as a thug.

"Madison is wrong," the California Republican responded. "If there's any thug in this world" it's Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"You just watched Putin, with Russia, directing Russia to bomb a maternity ward," McCarthy continued. "We watched yesterday in a theater that's identified in the front and the back from the air that your housing children, bombed.

"This is atrocious. This is wrong. This is the aggressor. This is the one that needs to end this war. This is the one that everybody should unite against."

A reporter followed up by asking McCarthy whether he still supports Cawthorne's reelection.

"Yes," he replied.

McCarthy also addressed the Biden Administration's handling of record inflation.

He said American families are going to lose $6,000 of "buying power" during Biden's first 2 years in office.