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This is getting almost too good to be true.
We already knew former Rep. Eric "Boom-Boom" Swalwell (D-CA) had a rather unusual relationship with a Chinese intelligence-linked honeypot named Christine Fang, aka Fang Fang. Now, thanks to documents released by the FBI, we apparently get to see what was happening behind the curtain, and it should scare normal Americans.
And suddenly, the California political scene looks even more entertaining.
According to newly released FBI memos, investigators believed 'the Fangster' may have compromised a Democratic congressman through sex, foreign interns and potentially illegal campaign donations. The FBI was even trying to recruit her as an informant because of her connections to Chinese intelligence.
The whole thing sounds less like congressional politics and more like the rejected plot of a low-budget spy movie.
Swalwell admitted to having a physical relationship with Fang., who he says he met in 2012, and diddled up until 2015.
The FBI eventually dropped Swalwell from the investigation and focused exclusively on Fang's alleged activities. So, at least according to the bureau, the congressman somehow managed to survive an investigation involving a Chinese intelligence-linked woman, while the woman herself remained the person of interest.
The FBI documents, obtained after President Donald Trump declassified them, describe a probe into Swalwell and Fang that was opened on March 17, 2014, under the wonderfully ominous name “Freshman Fifteen.”
The investigation centered on allegations that Swalwell provided congressional internships in exchange for campaign contributions. Investigators identified Fang as the alleged facilitator of the arrangement and accused her of using intermediaries to disguise the source of prohibited foreign donations.
“The FBI developed evidence that a Chinese woman with direct ties to that country’s intelligence service had potentially compromised a Democratic congressman from California with sex, foreign interns and illicit donations while she was being recruited to become a bureau informant a decade ago, according to bombshell memos that expose another threat to America’s political system from Beijing.”
That is quite a sentence.
Apparently, the FBI was not merely investigating a congressional intern who happened to have a funny accent. Investigators believed they were looking at a Chinese national with connections to Beijing's intelligence apparatus who had cultivated relationships with American politicians.
The documents say the FBI opened its investigation after allegations emerged that congressional internships were being exchanged for campaign contributions. Fang was allegedly the person making the arrangements.
“Investigation has revealed Fang ‘Christine’ Fang, a Chinese foreign national residing in the United States, is the facilitator of a scheme to trade access to Swalwell and internships in his congressional office in return for campaign contributions […]” the memo reads.
The FBI also alleged that Fang “used conduits to conceal herself as a prohibited Foreign National source,” for illegal campaign contributions “at least twice in 2013 and at least two more times in 2014.”
And then there is Jack Smith.
During the early stages of the investigation, the FBI regularly briefed the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which was then headed by Smith. Smith would later become famous for leading the Biden administration's investigations and prosecutions of Trump.
Washington really does have a remarkable talent for producing recurring characters.
Eventually, after interviewing Swalwell multiple times, the FBI determined that it had not found evidence that the congressman himself had violated federal statutes. On February 8, 2017, the bureau reclassified the investigation, dropped Swalwell as a subject and concentrated on Fang's alleged campaign finance violations.
So Swalwell survived.
Politically speaking, this was apparently the congressional equivalent of walking away from an exploding building without even getting dust on the suit.
But the FBI's interest in Fang went considerably further than her relationship with Swalwell.
Before investigating her alleged illegal activities, bureau agents spent months trying to recruit her as an informant. They used an undercover employee and even created a fictitious company in an effort to persuade Fang to cooperate.
The objective was to obtain information about Chinese influence operations targeting American public officials, several of whom Fang was reportedly close to.
The operation was given the appropriately subtle name “Rusty Thumbs.”
According to the memos, an undercover FBI employee met with Fang several times, learned about her background and offered her a consulting position with the fictional company. The proposed job would have involved using her Chinese connections to assist the business.
Fang apparently wasn't eager to provide a detailed biography of her life in China. The memos say she was vague about her past, declined to explain her parents' positions with the Chinese government and would not disclose where she attended undergraduate school.
She was apparently much more comfortable discussing her political activities in America.
Those activities reportedly included helping connect donors to Swalwell's congressional campaign.
Eventually, Fang agreed to work with the fictional company. On June 14, 2013, she signed a contractor agreement for the consulting position.
The FBI has the contract in its files.
So there you have it. A Democratic congressman, a Chinese national with alleged intelligence connections, congressional internships, campaign contributions, a physical relationship, an undercover FBI operation, a fake company and something called “Rusty Thumbs.”
At this point, all that seems to be missing is Tom Clancy receiving a royalty check.
The important distinction, of course, is that the FBI ultimately concluded it had not established federal criminal violations by Swalwell himself. But the newly released documents nonetheless provide a remarkable look at how seriously the bureau viewed Fang's activities and the possibility that Beijing was using relationships with American politicians to gain influence.
And somehow Eric Swalwell still gets to participate in American politics.
Apparently, surviving a Chinese honeypot scandal is now considered a qualification for higher office in California.
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