FBI Bombshell Reveals Eric Swalwell’s Secret Affair with Spy

Newly declassified FBI documents are shedding fresh light on former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s relationship with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine Fang — revealing that agents discovered the pair’s intimate relationship while they were trying to determine whether Fang could be recruited as a U.S. source.

The documents, released Monday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, provide new details about the FBI’s years-long scrutiny of Fang, also known as Fang Fang, and her access to the California Democrat.

According to a 2013 FBI memo, Swalwell even joked with Fang about suspicions that she was connected to China’s Ministry of State Security, Beijing’s powerful intelligence agency.

The memo said Swalwell commented that Fang was suspected of being associated with the “Chinese CIA,” referring to the MSS.

Fang reportedly joked back that Chinese intelligence officers were typically “old men or ladies” and suggested that Beijing would be more likely to use prostitutes than intelligence officers themselves to lure American officials.

But behind the joking, federal agents were taking Fang very seriously.

The newly released records indicate that an undercover FBI agent explored whether Fang could be recruited as a double agent. Investigators reportedly gave her the code name “Rusty Thumbs,” although the documents do not explain why.

During those conversations, Fang allegedly told the undercover agent that she could “use her sexuality on politicians” if she wanted because she was “young and pretty.”

The FBI also documented concerns about Fang’s background.

Agents believed she had connections to Chinese intelligence, noted that both of her parents were reportedly Chinese intelligence officers and flagged inconsistencies in statements she made about her family and personal history.

Investigators nevertheless initially considered recruiting her because they believed her motivations appeared to revolve around money, influence and power.

The bureau also described Fang as displaying what agents considered “egotistical” and “narcissistic” characteristics that could affect her reliability as an informant.

By March 2014, however, the FBI had apparently seen enough.

Agents concluded Fang could not be trusted to reliably provide intelligence about China in exchange for money and closed the recruitment effort.

Just six days later, according to the documents, the FBI opened an investigation involving Swalwell because of Fang’s access to the congressman.

That investigation eventually produced an explosive admission.

The records state that Swalwell told federal agents in 2015 that he had engaged in “physical relations with Fang on a handful of occasions.”

The disclosure raised obvious national-security concerns because Swalwell was serving on the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, giving him access to highly sensitive information.

According to the documents, the FBI gave Swalwell a classified briefing about Fang on April 30, 2015. At the time, investigators believed he was still seeing her roughly once every two months.

Swalwell has not been accused of passing classified information to Fang, and his attorneys have repeatedly maintained that he committed no wrongdoing in connection with her.

Still, the revelations surrounding the relationship have dogged the California Democrat for years — particularly among Republicans who have questioned why he was allowed to continue serving on the Intelligence Committee after the FBI raised concerns.

GOP leaders briefly removed Swalwell from the committee, but Democrats later restored him.

Fang eventually left the United States and has reportedly been barred from returning.

The Swalwell-Fang relationship first became a major national story in 2020, when Axios reported that Fang had spent years cultivating relationships with American politicians and was suspected of operating on behalf of Chinese intelligence.

The newly declassified FBI documents now provide a deeper look at just how closely federal investigators were watching her — and how the bureau’s unsuccessful attempt to turn Fang into an informant ultimately helped expose her intimate relationship with Swalwell.

The records were formally declassified in March but were not made public until Monday.

Swalwell had fought their release.

His attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, arguing that releasing the files would amount to a politically motivated attempt to damage Swalwell while he was campaigning for California governor.

“The Congressman has never been accused of wrongdoing in that matter,” his attorneys wrote, according to the documents, warning that releasing the material could expose the FBI and its officials to legal liability.

The controversy comes during an already turbulent period for Swalwell.

He resigned from Congress in April after former staffers made separate sexual misconduct and rape allegations against him — accusations Swalwell has strongly denied.

But the Fang documents are likely to reignite questions Republicans have raised for years about how a suspected Chinese operative managed to become so close to a sitting member of Congress with access to some of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence.

And perhaps the most stunning detail is that the FBI apparently did not uncover the relationship through an investigation of Swalwell himself.

It surfaced while agents were trying to recruit Fang.