Newly released FBI files describe Christine Fang’s CCP intelligence ties, efforts to recruit her as a double agent, and her influence of a U.S. congressman.
WASHINGTON— Nearly 150 pages of newly declassified FBI documents paint the clearest picture yet of the relationship between a suspected Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spy and a U.S. congressman, including sexual seduction, illicit campaign donations, and the placement of interns used to influence American politics.
Former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who resigned from his role in April after sexual allegations involving a former staffer surfaced, is the focus of the files released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force on Aug. 17.
New details outline his dealings with suspected spy Christine Fang, who went by Fang Fang, including admissions from Swalwell that he had a sexual relationship with her before he was elected to Congress. The Epoch Times reached out to Swalwell for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Swalwell told FBI agents that Fang showed up at his apartment unannounced, “probably” before he was elected to Congress, and the two “hooked up.” In a subsequent interview, one of the three recorded in the documents, he told the FBI they were last physically intimate in March 2015, describing the relationship as casual and non-romantic.
“He made significant admissions in those interviews, including [that] he did have a sexual relationship with Fang,” a senior administration official told reporters on Aug. 16.
Swalwell has never publicly admitted the relationship.
He told agents Fang never asked for, nor was given, classified information, and he never provided favors in exchange for their interactions.
“China’s infiltration into our system is persistent, and it looks for many different avenues, not just one,” the official said, noting that the Chinese regime pursues multiple avenues to influence the United States and describing the pages as “the most illuminating documents” from the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Swalwell’s relationship with Fang.
“This gives us a case study of just how China was trying to infiltrate the political system.”
The official said that, going forward, “Congress will have some better knowledge” regarding the names and the CCP’s tactics, such as the use of money, sex, and interns to influence Congress.
Fang later used her influence to get interns hired to work on Swalwell’s campaign and in his political office, according to the documents.
Investigators leading Operation Freshman Fifteen, looking into the congressman’s campaign finances, initially believed the interns were part of a quid pro quo agreement and approved a $1,000 donation from undercover agents to Swalwell’s campaign through Fang as part of the ruse to uncover criminal activity. But after failing to find evidence within the allotted timeframe, they closed the investigation.
“In this case here, you see an effort to get close to a brand-new freshman congressman by a woman who had clear Chinese intelligence ties,” the official said, emphasizing Fang’s ability to compromise Swalwell through seduction and illegal straw donations to his campaign.
