Swalwell wants to be the next governor of California. But this could end his career in its tracks.
Now Democrat Eric Swalwell’s ties to Chinese spies revealed in shocking receipts.
Swalwell’s Weak Dodges: Still Haunting Ties to Chinese Spy
California Rep. Eric Swalwell, the embattled Democrat now eyeing a run for governor, finally broke his silence on the long-simmering scandal involving a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who infiltrated his inner circle — but his defense amounted to little more than petulant dismissals and blame-shifting.
Dismissing Serious Espionage Concerns as “Bullshit”
Christine Fang, also known as “Fang Fang,” cultivated close ties with Swalwell starting when he was a Dublin city council member.
She bundled donations for his 2014 reelection campaign, recommended staff for his office, and developed an uncomfortably close relationship with the rising Democrat. U.S. officials have long viewed her as a Chinese spy running a classic influence operation targeting up-and-coming politicians.
In a recent podcast interview, Swalwell waved away the entire episode with contempt: “The air was cleared immediately by the FBI when there was even a suggestion of wrongdoing.” He doubled down, calling the persistent questions “bullshit,” “lies,” and insisting “defamation is the highest form of flattery.”
He added, “Independent folks have said enough on this,” and claimed the FBI praised him for cooperating once the threat was identified.
Yet the timing raises fresh eyebrows: Swalwell’s campaign shelled out roughly $305,000 in “legal services” payments to a white-collar defense firm between 2016 and 2023 — right around the period when the scandal erupted and House Ethics probes loomed. His team insists the money was needed to shield staff from supposed “retaliatory investigations” by Trump, but the hefty sum smells more like damage control for self-inflicted wounds.
Reckless Judgment and the China Problem
Swalwell was hit with a defensive FBI briefing in 2015 shortly after joining the House Intelligence Committee — the very panel handling America’s most sensitive secrets. He wasn’t immediately booted, but then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy later triggered an Ethics Committee review.
Swalwell’s response? Blame the process: “Kevin McCarthy wanted to create a thing… There’s nothing I can do if someone is just trying to do the president’s bidding.”
This isn’t ancient history. The Fang Fang saga continues to dog Swalwell’s ambitions, resurfacing amid his gubernatorial bid and drawing fresh mockery — including from Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who bluntly noted that voters prefer politicians “not to get tricked by foreign spies.”
Swalwell’s casual brush-off of legitimate national security red flags fits a troubling pattern for this Democrat: questionable judgment on China, reflexive partisan attacks, and an inability to own up to obvious lapses.
While he claims full clearance, the persistent cloud of a Chinese honeytrap operation infiltrating a future Intelligence Committee member underscores why many Americans view Swalwell — and the party that continues to elevate him — with deep skepticism. In an era of aggressive CCP espionage, voters deserve leaders with sharper instincts, not slick deflections and expensive legal firewalls.
