House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she and Republican leadership were informed at the time about past interactions between Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and an alleged Chinese spy.
“The leadership of the Congress was informed at the same time, including the Republican leadership. At the same time, that’s when we all found out,” Pelosi told the Washington Examiner Thursday. “They knew when we knew.”
Pelosi previously defended Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and an outspoken critic of President Trump on allegations of Russian interference on his behalf in the 2016 election. Pelosi on Wednesday said she has “full confidence” in Swalwell’s ability to serve on the Intelligence panel.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, asked in a Fox News interview Wednesday, “Did Nancy Pelosi know this had transpired when she put him on the committee?”
Christine Fang, a Chinese national suspected of being a spy for her country, targeted several lawmakers and politicians, specifically in California. She helped bundle donations for Swalwell in his first reelection bid in 2014. And she helped place an intern in the now-Intelligence Committee member’s Washington, D.C., office.
According to a report by Axios, referencing present and former U.S. intelligence officials, Fang is said to be working with China’s Ministry of State Security, and led an intricate political influence operation between 2011 and 2015 for the Chinese Communist Party in the Bay Area and beyond.
Swalwell defended himself, saying he was informed by the FBI during a 2015 defensive briefing about Fang’s affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party and cut off ties with her at that point.
“As the story referenced, this goes back to the beginning of the last decade. And it’s something that congressional leadership knew about,” Swalwell told Politico.
Members of the congressional Gang of Eight, in 2015, who received regular intelligence briefings were: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, and Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein.
