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There are bad ideas, there are terrible ideas, and then there is allowing a congressman who admitted having an intimate relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative to remain on the House Intelligence Committee.
Apparently, Washington Democrats were determined to explore that third category.
When allegations involving Rep. Eric Swalwell and Fang Fang, a woman suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence, surfaced in 2020, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the FBI’s findings. We now know the bureau had evidence that Fang may have compromised Swalwell through sex, foreign interns and allegedly illicit campaign donations.
And yet somehow the Democratic leadership concluded that the appropriate response was not, “Perhaps we should move this guy away from the classified information.”
Instead, Swalwell stayed.
Because apparently “House Intelligence Committee” was being interpreted as more of a suggestion than a job description.
The FBI briefings were serious enough to alarm then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who called for Swalwell to be removed from the committee. McCarthy was concerned that a congressman with access to highly sensitive intelligence might not be the ideal person to have around highly sensitive intelligence.
Crazy, right?
Sex, Interns and Campaign Cash
The newly released FBI files provide considerably more detail about the relationship between Swalwell and Fang.
According to the files, Swalwell admitted having sex with Fang, acknowledged that his staff had placed Fang’s interns in congressional offices, and admitted that his campaign finance operation was not sophisticated enough to detect the alleged straw donations she funneled through U.S. citizens.
So, to recap, the FBI was dealing with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who allegedly cultivated American politicians through networking, campaign donations, internships and romantic relationships.
And one of those politicians was sitting on the House Intelligence Committee.
This sounds less like counterintelligence and more like the plot of a spy movie written by people who thought the protagonist should be named “Congressman Completely Unconcerned.”
The FBI also knew Fang had ties to China’s Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s intelligence service. Investigators identified her parents as MSS agents.
Fang’s activities had previously been reported by Axios, which described her efforts to cultivate politicians in California through fundraising, networking, charm and romantic or sexual relationships.
Swalwell was reportedly one of her most significant targets.
Swalwell has consistently maintained that he did nothing wrong, fully cooperated with the FBI investigation, and stopped communicating with Fang after receiving a defensive briefing about her activities.
Swalwell’s Lawyer Says This Is All Political
After the files were released, Swalwell’s attorney, Sara Azari, argued that there was nothing new to see.
“There is nothing new here. The government’s own memorandum confirms what Congressman Swalwell has said for more than a decade: he did nothing wrong, and there was no basis to charge him with any offense,” said Sara Azari, legal counsel for Swalwell, on Monday after the files were released. “What is new and deeply concerning is the apparent use of federal law enforcement information to punish or embarrass an outspoken critic of the current administration. An investigation that produced no charges and no finding of wrongdoing should not be resurrected years later as a vehicle for political retaliation.”
That is certainly one way to describe the situation.
Another would be: “The FBI investigated a congressman who admitted sleeping with a woman the bureau believed was connected to Chinese intelligence, and now everyone is upset that people are talking about it.”
Both descriptions are technically available.
After the original allegations surfaced, McCarthy said they “disqualified” Swalwell from serving on the Intelligence Committee.
“Swalwell is a national security liability,” the Republican leader said.
McCarthy then requested a full FBI briefing. After receiving it, he became even more convinced Swalwell should be removed.
“One thing I know for sure — I had questions about whether he should. That’s the one question that was answered, he should not be on Intel,” McCarthy told reporters.
That seems fairly definitive.
Pelosi: Nothing to See Here
Pelosi later confirmed that Democratic leadership had first been briefed about Swalwell’s relationship with Fang in the spring of 2015, shortly after Democrats nominated him to the Intelligence Committee.
Pelosi said congressional Democrats cut off communication with Fang once they learned about the situation.
“When that was made known to the members of Congress, it was over. That was the end of any communication with those people,” Pelosi said.
The Speaker also said Republicans had been briefed at the same time.
“We knew when they knew,” explained Pelosi.
And then came the part that has aged particularly well.
Summing up her assessment of Swalwell, Pelosi told reporters that she did not “have any concerns about Mr. Swalwell.”
Naturally.
Nothing inspires confidence in congressional counterintelligence quite like a suspected Chinese spy sleeping with a member of the Intelligence Committee while party leadership says there are “no concerns.”
McCarthy tried to remove Swalwell from the committee in early 2021 after Pelosi reappointed him.
The House voted largely along party lines to reject the measure, with 200 members voting for removal and 218 voting against it.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff also defended Swalwell, calling him a “trusted member of our committee” who had “acted fully in accordance with his responsibilities” after the 2015 briefing.
Apparently those responsibilities included continuing to sit on the committee.
McCarthy: Democrats “Jeopardized” Congress
When Republicans regained control of the House in 2023, McCarthy blocked Swalwell from serving on the Intelligence Committee.
“If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn’t have Swalwell on any committee,” McCarthy said.
“One thing I know for sure – I had questions about whether he should. That’s the one question that was answered, he should not be on Intel.”
McCarthy said Democratic leadership had “jeopardized” Congress by allowing Swalwell to remain on a committee handling sensitive intelligence for years.
“The only way that they even knew it came forward is when they went to nominate him to the Intel Committee. And then the FBI came and told the leadership then, he’s got a problem,” McCarthy explained. “And they kept him on. That jeopardized all of us.”
That is the sort of sentence that tends to make people wonder why national security was apparently being handled with the same urgency as deciding where to hold the congressional Christmas party.
Then Came the New Details
The newly released files reveal even more about what the FBI knew.
According to the documents, the FBI initially considered investigating Swalwell for a bribery scheme involving campaign donations and internships. Investigators ultimately narrowed the criminal case to Fang and allegations that she made illegal donations through U.S.-citizen conduits.
Swalwell admitted that he had sex with Fang, that his staff placed her interns in congressional offices, and that his campaign finance system was not strong enough to detect the alleged straw donations.
The Justice Department ultimately declined to prosecute Fang after she fled the country as investigators began interviewing associates and raiding her home.
The FBI had also been trying to recruit Fang as a confidential informant.
Her code name?
“Rusty Thumbs.”
Yes, “Rusty Thumbs.”
Apparently the FBI's counterintelligence operation had a naming committee that was having a particularly creative afternoon.
The bureau was considering hiring Fang through a cutout company and was still evaluating her suitability as a confidential human source when investigators discovered her alleged criminal activity.
The FBI also knew early in the recruitment process that Fang had suspected ties to the MSS. One memo identified her parents as “known MSS intelligence officers.”
Agents also suspected Fang herself had ties to Chinese intelligence and knew she was raising money for California Democrats and allegedly willing to use sex to advance her political influence.
The investigation was opened on March 17, 2014, under the remarkably appropriate codename “Freshman Fifteen.”
The probe examined allegations that Swalwell awarded congressional internships in exchange for campaign contributions, with Fang allegedly serving as the facilitator.
According to an FBI summary of Swalwell’s 2015 interview, Swalwell admitted that he had “physical relations with Fang” on multiple occasions.
During another interview in 2016, Swalwell described an incident in which Fang showed up at his home. Swalwell said they “hooked up,” according to the FBI summary.
And all of this was known before Democrats repeatedly decided that Swalwell belonged on the House Intelligence Committee.
At some point, the question stops being whether Eric Swalwell had a questionable relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
The more interesting question is why the people who had been briefed about it decided that the appropriate response was to give him access to some of the most sensitive intelligence in the United States government.
Then again, Washington has always had an interesting definition of “intelligence.” Sometimes it apparently means classified information.
Sometimes it means figuring out that the guy sleeping with a suspected Chinese spy probably shouldn't be sitting on the Intelligence Committee.
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