Major news outlets have mostly ignored the Axios report linking Rep. Eric Swalwell to a suspected Chinese spy early in his political career.
“However, despite having been a loyal guest on MSNBC and CNN for three years to promote the Russia investigation — including allegations about President Trump being an ‘agent’ of the Kremlin — the latest Swalwell news received almost no attention from the cable news outlets on Tuesday,” Fox News reported Wednesday.
“MSNBC spent roughly five minutes on Axios’ reporting during the network’s 5 a.m. program on Tuesday without mentioning it again for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, CNN completely avoided the story altogether, both on-air and online,” the report continued.
Fox News also noted that major newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, both of which dedicated much coverage to allegations against President Trump concerning Russia, had not yet afforded any coverage to the Swalwell story. Broadcast networks ABC, NBC, and CBS also skipped coverage of the controversy during morning and evening shows.
Swalwell did make an appearance on CNN Wednesday, in which he briefly addressed the story.
“I was shocked,” he said. “Just over six years ago, I was told about this individual, and then, I offered to help, and I did help, and I was thanked by the FBI for my help, and that person is no longer in the country, and I was a little surprised to read about my cooperation in that story because the story says that there was never a suspicion of wrongdoing on my part.”
Swalwell also told Politico that he found the timing of the Axios story to be suspect.
“I’ve been a critic of the president. I’ve spoken out against him. I was on both committees that worked to impeach him. The timing feels like that should be looked at,” Swalwell said.
Swalwell went on to accuse the intelligence officials who spoke with Axios of attempting to “weaponize” his cooperation in the incident.
“What it appears though that this person, as the story reports, was unsuccessful in whatever they were trying to do. But if intelligence officials are trying to weaponize someone’s cooperation, they are essentially seeking to do what this person was not able to do, which is to try and discredit someone,” Swalwell said.
According to the Monday Axios report, a Chinese national named Fang Fang, or Christine Fang, targeted Swalwell when he was an up-and-coming councilman. Axios reported that investigators eventually gave Swalwell a “defensive briefing” on their concerns with Fang in 2015, after which he cut all ties with her. Swalwell was never accused of wrongdoing.
While Swalwell “refused to discuss his relationship with Fang,” he did express optimism that he would be able to remain on the House Intelligence Committee.
“As the story referenced, this goes back to the beginning of the last decade, and it’s something that congressional leadership knew about it,” Swalwell said.
Washington Examiner requests for comment from CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and the New York Times were not immediately returned.
