FBI Director Kash Patel has moved to release decade-old files on Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) over his ties to an alleged Chinese spy, according to multiple reports.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday that Patel ordered agents in the FBI’s San Francisco office to redact the files before they are eventually released and shared with Trump administration officials.
The files focus on Swalwell’s ties with a Chinese national named Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang. According to an Axios investigation, Fang participated in fundraising for Swalwell in his 2014 reelection campaign for the House and also placed at least one intern in his Washington, D.C., office. Swalwell was one of many politicians, particularly in the Bay Area, whom Fang interacted with.
Federal investigators alerted Swalwell about concerns they had about Fang in 2015, telling him that they suspected she worked for China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s main civilian spy agency. Those concerns came as part of a widening counterintelligence investigation.
After the discussion with investigators, Swalwell immediately cut off all ties with Fang. Shortly after and as the investigation was still open, Fang left the United States for China.
Swalwell was never accused of any wrongdoing by the FBI at that time or by the House Ethics Committee years later in 2023. Then, the Ethics Committee, chaired by Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), decided against taking any further action, dropping a two-year investigation into Swalwell over his connection to Fang.
Now, Patel is pushing to make the files public, as he reportedly tries to build a criminal case against Swalwell. As part of those efforts, FBI officials are even considering arranging for Fang to get a U.S. visa in exchange for speaking with FBI agents about Swalwell.
Swalwell immediately trashed Patel’s move after the Washington Post report dropped on Saturday.
“Most troubling about this is that we are now literally at war. We also face threats against the homeland,” he said in a statement. “Kash Patel should be spending every moment trying to keep us safe, not scoring political points. A lot of people have bent the knee to this administration. But I will not, and neither will the people of California.”
Swalwell also accused the Trump administration of “targeting” him and “trying to influence” the California gubernatorial primary in June, as he looks to secure the governor’s mansion in November.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who sits on the House Judiciary Committee with Swalwell, suggested Patel is colluding with the White House in trying to reopen the case.
“This is plain weaponization of the FBI for partisan political purposes,” Raskin said in a statement after the news dropped. “At the behest of the White House, Patel is wasting the resources of the FBI and perhaps violating the Hatch Act by ordering agents to spend hours preparing a political smear file for a personnel vendetta.”
This is not the first time the Trump administration has moved to investigate Swalwell, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump who voted to impeach him twice.
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Last November, Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte referred Swalwell to the Department of Justice over mortgage, tax, and insurance fraud allegations related to the congressman’s Washington, D.C., home.
Swalwell sued Pulte in response, though he has since dropped that lawsuit.
