Swalwell Demands Probe Into Story Of Questionable Relationship With Chinese Honeytrap Spy

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is demanding a probe of the Axios report that exposed he was entangled with someone suspected to be a Chinese spy, alleging the leak came from President Trump as retaliation for his criticisms and for his impeachment push.

“The wrongdoing here, Jim, is that at the same time this story was being leaked out is the time I was working on impeachment on the House intelligence and judiciary committees,” Swalwell said in an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto Wednesday.

“And if this is a country where people who criticize the president are going to have law enforcement information weaponized against them, that’s not a country that any of us want to live in. And I hope it is investigated as to who leaked this information,” he added.

On Tuesday, Axios reported that a Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang was an operative for China’s Ministry of State Security, the country’s top intelligence organization, and targeted up-and-coming local politicians, including Swalwell. Fang reportedly helped fundraise for Swalwell’s 2014 campaign and even managed to install one intern in his office. 

During her brief four year mission in the states, Fang allegedly slept with at least two Midwestern mayors while pursuing a slew of local-level politicians across the country in a bid to infiltrate the U.S political system. Intelligence officials believe that Fang did in fact had a sexual relationship with Swalwell during her time she helped bundled donor checks for his 2014 re-election campaign as well as the countless interactions she had with the congressman in numerous events.

In the softball interview with CNN, Swalwell claims he didn’t share any information with Fang before he received the Defense Briefing by the feds, with CNN refusing to question Swalwell on the extent of his relationship with the Chinese Mata Hari, giving the Democrat a microphone to arrogantly and falsely charged that Trump was the plant behind the Axios report.

“Well, I know that I didn’t, again I can’t talk too much about the details of the case even though others may have violated their oath. I’m not going to violate mine, but the Axios story made it absolutely clear that no information was ever shared,” Swalwell said. “But the Axios story made it absolutely clear that no information was ever shared. Except, Jim, the people who did share classified information were the people who leaked this story. And to do that against a critic of the president, they may think that they’re going to silence me. They’re not going to silence me. But what they are going to do is they’re going to make others think twice when they’re asked to sit down and provide defensive information about people like this.”

Since the release of Axios’ bombshell, Swalwell has done only a handful of interviews, dodging questions discussing “his relationship with Fang,” while proudly bragging the controversy wouldn’t cost him his Intelligence Committee. He first suggested that he believes Trump is the source of the leaked information about the Chinese spy, due to his outspoken push of a now-debunked Russian collusion narrative.

“I’ve been a critic of the president. I’ve spoken out against him. I was on both committees that worked to impeach him. The timing feels like that should be looked at,” Swalwell told Politico. 

Swalwell revealed that Axios first approached him about the story into his ties to Fang in July 2019, around the same time he ended his failed bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and his continuous push of impeaching the president.

“What it appears though that this person — as the story reports — was unsuccessful in whatever they were trying to do. But if intelligence officials are trying to weaponize someone’s cooperation, they are essentially seeking to do what this person was not able to do, which is to try and discredit someone,” Swalwell said.

 When asked by Fox News Tucker Carlson whether the Intelligence official reports that he was intimate with Fang were true, Swalwell’s office declined to comment, citing national security with such information that might be “classified.” 

“Rep. Swalwell, long ago, provided information about this person — whom he met more than eight years ago, and whom he hasn’t seen in nearly six years — to the FBI,” Swalwell’s office said. “To protect information that might be classified, he will not participate in your story.”

AxiosChinese SpyChristine FangCNNCongressHouseImpeachmentPoliticoPresident TrumpRep. Eric Swalwell