Republicans don’t believe Rep. Eric Swalwell was the only House Democrat who exercised poor judgment when it comes to suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang.
Following a briefing from the FBI on Fang’s time in the United States, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, reiterated his call for Swalwell to be removed from the House Intelligence Committee. McCarthy said his conversation with federal officials led him to conclude that “the one thing that was fundamentally answered was that [Swalwell] should not be on Intel.”
An individual familiar with the matter told the Washington Examiner that intelligence officials briefed Swalwell in 2015, likely after he received his position on the House Intelligence Committee. That clarity has led Republicans to set their sights on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say must give an explanation for why Swalwell has not been disciplined.
“It also brings up concerns about how Democrat leadership handled this serious revelation. Public reporting shows that Swalwell received a defensive briefing from the FBI back in 2015, the same year Swalwell was selected to serve as the lead Democrat on a subcommittee overseeing the CIA,” McCarthy told the Washington Examiner. “How did Nancy Pelosi allow him to continue to serve in this role despite knowing he had been spied on for years by the CCP?”
On Dec. 15, 17 GOP lawmakers called on Pelosi to remove Swalwell from the committee, calling his prior relationship with Fang a national security risk. Swalwell has remained silent on the issue as of late, although he previously called the original Axios report part of a conspiracy by the Trump administration to smear him.
“The House Intelligence Committee is instrumental in overseeing our national effort to counteract our chief global rival’s espionage initiatives; for one of its members to have had an undisclosed relationship with a foreign asset in the manner described by recent reports in unacceptable and dangerous,” a letter from the House Republicans reads.
Despite mounting criticism, Pelosi and other Democrats have defended Swalwell. Earlier this month, she told reporters she doesn’t have “any concern” about Swalwell’s position on the Intelligence Committee and called McCarthy’s rhetoric an effort “to deflect attention from the fact that he has QAnon in his delegation,” a reference to incoming Republican lawmaker Marjorie Greene of Georgia. Other Democrats, such as Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, expressed confidence that Swalwell and Fang were not “in a deep relationship” and that she trusted Pelosi’s leadership.
But the extent of that relationship remains unclear. Fang had fundraised for Swalwell’s congressional reelection as late as 2014, although the two had contact starting in at least 2012 when he was a Dublin City, California, councilman. At some point, the two were close enough that Fang placed an intern in his office.
U.S. officials believe Fang had been involved in a domestic spying operation from 2011 to 2015, when she spontaneously left the country. Aside from helping fundraise for a number of California Democrats, she is also suspected of entering a romantic relationship with at least two Midwestern mayors. Swalwell has not commented on whether he and Fang were ever romantically involved.
“At a time when we should be more vigilant against China’s ongoing threats, Democrats jeopardized our national security by allowing a compromised individual to oversee the operations of agencies whose mission it is to protect our country’s most sensitive information,” McCarthy said.
