Former Congressman Eric Swalwell told the FBI he “occasionally hooked up” with the Chinese operative known as “Fang Fang,” according to newly released files.
The documents were released by the White House Transparency Task Force under the title “Rusty Thumbs,” another nickname linked to Christine Fang, the woman at the center of the case.
Fang, who returned to China in 2015 as the FBI’s scrutiny intensified, had spent years building relationships with up-and-coming California Democrats. She helped bundle donations for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign and was also involved in placing an intern in his congressional office.
Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in April amid accusations of sexual misconduct, acknowledged to federal agents at the FBI’s Oakland office in 2015 that he and Fang had “physical relations” on at least two occasions.
He described Fang as a “striking individual,” while saying the encounters most likely took place before he was first elected to Congress in 2012.
The former lawmaker also told agents he had only a limited memory of one encounter with the alleged honeypot, saying it occurred after he had taken Ambien, a sleep aid he acknowledged using.
According to a staffer cited in the files, Fang was openly flirtatious with Swalwell and once reportedly told him that “she was not wearing any underwear.”
Former Congressman Eric Swalwell told the FBI he “occasionally hooked up” with the Chinese spy known as “Fang Fang,” newly released files show
The White House Transparency Task Force dropped the new documents under the title ‘Rusty Thumbs,’ another moniker given to the woman whose real name is Christine Fang
He added that the pair’s relationship was casual and that they would text each other often.
Swalwell’s attorney, Sara Azari, told The Daily Mail that everything released by the White House was old news.
‘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,’ she said.
Azari called it ‘deeply concerning’ that the White House was using FBI files ‘to punish or embarrass an outspoken critic’ of Donald Trump.
‘An investigation that produced no charges and no finding of wrongdoing should not be resurrected years later as a vehicle for political retaliation,’ she added.
‘The facts have not changed. Only the political motive for publicizing them has. That should concern anyone who believes federal law enforcement must remain independent of political retribution.’
Swalwell severed all ties and cooperated with investigators after agents warned him about her in a defensive briefing, and the probe ended without charges. But the scandal has dogged him since it burst into public view in 2020.
As the FBI pushed to release its investigative files on the matter earlier this year, Swalwell’s legal team reportedly claimed that the Trump administration publicizing the documents would look like a punitive bid to weaponize the department against him.
Swalwell’s legal team reportedly claimed that publicizing the Fang Fang (R) documents would look like a punitive bid to weaponize the department against him
Swalwell resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations that torpedoed his campaign for California governor
Swalwell, who resigned from Congress in disgrace in April after he was accused of sexual misconduct, confessed to federal agents at the FBI’s Oakland office in 2015 that the two had ‘physical relations’ on at least two occasions
The ex-politician said that he barely remembers one of the two trysts with the alleged honeypot because it happened after he’d taken Ambien
The battle over the files erupted in March, when FBI Director Kash Patel signaled he was preparing to release records from the long-closed probe into Swalwell’s contacts with Fang, as the Washington Post first reported.
Swalwell, then the frontrunner in California’s governor’s race, reportedly fired back with a cease-and-desist letter blasting the move as a naked attempt to smear him and torpedo his campaign, according to Sources Say.
He later quit the gubernatorial race amid sexual misconduct allegations in April, which he has denied.
Behind the scenes, Justice Department lawyers serving under then-Attorney General Pam Bondi went back and forth with Swalwell’s attorney about the file, including discussions aimed at keeping it sealed, according to Sources Say. Ultimately, the Swalwell documents were not released.
And Bondi ultimately refused to green-light the release of the Swalwell documents. In response to a request for comment on this article, Bondi told Our News Outlet: ‘I NEVER had any conversations with Swalwell nor his legal team regarding the Chinese Spy nor did I direct anyone at DOJ not to release files.’
As Our News Outlet first revealed, Bondi was ousted in April in part because Trump believed she had tipped Swalwell off about the administration’s plan to release the files.
Swalwell has flatly denied getting any warning, insisting to MSNBC during an interview after her firing: ‘The attorney general did not tip us off.’
Pressed on those allegations and on the exchanges between Swalwell’s camp and department lawyers, Bondi reportedly shot back to Sources Say that her only contact with him concerned ‘death threats to his wife and children.’
Swalwell resigned from Congress amid sexual assault allegations that torpedoed his campaign for California governor.
