New FBI Files Blow Open Swalwell’s Long Running Fang Fang Mystery

Newly released FBI files reveal that former Rep. Eric Swalwell had a sexual relationship with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine Fang, known as “Fang Fang,” settling years of public uncertainty over the nature of their relationship.

According to the May 2015 FBI files, released by the White House and reviewed by The Daily Wire, Swalwell told federal investigators that he had “physical relations” with Fang “on a handful of occasions” after meeting her in 2012.

Swalwell told investigators that the relationship was casual and that the two never dated or had a romantic relationship, but said he believed Fang was interested in pursuing a closer romantic relationship with him. Swalwell said that March of 2015 was the last time he had physical relations with Fang.

The revelation is significant because the precise nature of Swalwell’s relationship with Fang had remained disputed since her ties to the California Democrat were first publicly exposed in 2020.

At the time, Axios reported that Fang had cultivated extensive relationships with American politicians as part of what U.S. intelligence officials believed was a Chinese political intelligence operation. Fang participated in fundraising for Swalwell’s congressional campaign and helped place at least one intern in his congressional office.

Axios reported that Fang had sexual or romantic relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors but did not report that she had a sexual relationship with Swalwell.

Swalwell declined to answer questions about the nature of his relationship with Fang when the Axios story broke, instead saying that he had provided information about her to the FBI and would not discuss information that might be classified.

The newly released interview shows that federal investigators were aware of the sexual relationship by 2015 and that Swalwell himself had disclosed it during the FBI investigation.

The interview also provides additional details about Swalwell’s communications with Fang. He told investigators that the pair primarily communicated through text messages, but also spoke by phone and exchanged emails. Swalwell said he had used his personal Gmail account to communicate with Fang and had reviewed the account before his FBI interview, finding approximately five email exchanges that he offered to provide to investigators.

Swalwell also told investigators that he did not know the source of Fang’s money. He said he assumed Fang or her family was independently wealthy and had never discussed the sources of her income with her.

The files also contain secondhand accounts from people in Swalwell’s orbit describing Fang’s efforts to maintain access to him. One source told investigators that Swalwell’s then-chief of staff had said Fang appeared at Swalwell’s home unannounced on at least one occasion. The source also reportedly heard that Fang had appeared at Swalwell’s door and made it clear to him that she was not wearing underwear.

The FBI documents are dated May 2015, meaning the disclosures came while Swalwell’s relationship with Fang was either ongoing or had only recently ended. Swalwell told investigators that March 2015 was the last occasion on which he had physical relations with Fang.

That timing is particularly notable because federal investigators were becoming increasingly concerned about Fang’s activities around the same period. U.S. intelligence officials later provided Swalwell with a defensive briefing warning him about Fang, after which he said he cut ties with her. Fang left the United States in 2015 amid the investigation.

Fang had cultivated relationships with numerous rising politicians in California and elsewhere between roughly 2011 and 2015. U.S. intelligence officials believed she was operating on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security and gathering political intelligence by developing access to ambitious politicians.

Among her most important targets was Swalwell, who had been elected to Congress in 2012 and joined the House Intelligence Committee in 2015.

Fang’s access to Swalwell extended beyond their personal relationship. According to the FBI files and previous reporting, she was involved in fundraising for his 2014 reelection campaign and helped place an intern in his congressional office. Intelligence officials believed Fang was cultivating relationships with politicians who could eventually rise to positions of national importance.

Swalwell has never been charged with a crime in connection with Fang, and investigators did not accuse him of knowingly participating in a Chinese intelligence operation. The House Ethics Committee also closed an investigation into his ties to Fang without taking action.

In March, as Swalwell mounted his now-defunct campaign for governor of California, his attorneys sent FBI Director Kash Patel a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the bureau agree not to release investigative files concerning Fang. His lawyers argued that releasing the files would improperly damage Swalwell’s campaign and maintained that he had never been accused of wrongdoing.