Eric Swalwell, a candidate for California’s gubernatorial race, is addressing the controversy surrounding a Chinese spy’s infiltration of his office, which led to a congressional ethics investigation. This comes amid new revelations that his campaign fund made $300,000 in legal payments around the same period.
In a recent podcast interview shared with The Post, Swalwell staunchly defended himself, claiming he was exonerated of any wrongdoing and dismissing the entire affair as a politically motivated attack. “The FBI immediately cleared the air when any suggestion of misconduct arose,” he remarked on the Daily Beast’s “Sources Say” podcast.
He further asserted, “Independent evaluations have settled this matter, and I regard defamation as the highest form of flattery,” brushing off the allegations as mere “lies and nonsense.”
Swalwell emphasized that the FBI had released statements indicating that his only involvement was assisting them in identifying someone who might not have been who they claimed to be. “The FBI put out two statements,” he noted, “saying, ‘all he did was help us when we identified somebody who might not be who they are presenting themselves as.’”
The controversy centers around Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, who is suspected of being a Chinese intelligence operative. An investigation by Axios revealed that Fang had developed significant connections with Swalwell during his time as a Dublin city council member. She was involved in bundling donations for his 2014 reelection campaign and even suggested staff for his office.
Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative also known as Fang Fang, developed “extensive” ties with Swalwell starting when he was a Dublin city council member, bundling donations for his 2014 reelection campaign and even recommending staff for his office, according to an Axios investigation.
Fang, a former student at California State University East Bay was secretly working as an intelligence agent targeting political up-and-comers like Swalwell and cultivated sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors, US officials told Axios.
She began cultivating ties with Swalwell when he was a Dublin city council member, investigators found.
Federal investigators were so spooked by Fang’s activities that they gave Swalwell what is known as a “defensive” briefing around 2015, per Axios. Swalwell had been assigned a seat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — a post with access to sensitive national security intel — in January 2015.
The FBI and a House ethics committee found no wrongdoing on Swalwell’s part in the bizarre espionage case, but the incident has dogged his campaign for California governor — where he is considered the Democratic frontrunner.
Swalwell feuded with Barstool sports founder Dave Portnoy over the Fang Fang incident this month, after Portnoy posted a photo of Swalwell with the Chinese spy, writing: “Call me crazy I like my politicians not to get tricked my foreign spies.”
“Hey Eric I’d never heard of you but quick Google search said you were literally removed from House Intelligence Committee for having your office infiltrated by a Chinese spy named Fang Fang,” he added.
Swalwell wasn’t immediately removed from the committee over his ties to Fang, but Rep. Kevin McCarthy ordered a House Ethics Committee investigation into the incident after he became House Speaker in 2021.
“Kevin McCathy wanted to create a thing,” Swalwell said. “There’s nothing I can do if someone is just trying to do the president’s bidding.”
“it comes from being in the arena,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, Swalwell’s main campaign committee — called Swalwell for Congress — spent $305,000 between 2016 and 2023 on unspecified “legal services” from law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass — which specializes in civil litigation and white-collar defense, not election law.
Individual payments ranged from $250 to more than $36,000.
A campaign spokesperson told KCRA the payments were for legal guidance as President Donald Trump launched “retaliatory investigations” that put the congressman’s “family and staff at risk.”
“I was retained as outside counsel to provide legal guidance to the congressman’s office, ensuring staff remained fully compliant with applicable laws and prepared for potential contact from politically motivated actors,” Rees Morgan, a white-collar criminal defense attorney at the San Francisco-based law firm, told the news site.
