A suspected Chinese spy ran Eric Swalwell's fundraising operation and picked his congressional staff.
Now Kash Patel wants the public to see the full FBI file.
What he's trying to hide could upend his run for governor in California.
How Christine Fang Picked Eric Swalwell's Congressional Staff
Christine Fang – known as Fang Fang – was a Chinese national who embedded herself into Bay Area Democrat politics starting around 2011. She drove a white Mercedes, showed up at every event, and made a point of befriending politicians who looked like future stars.
Eric Swalwell was her primary target. She fundraised for his 2014 congressional campaign. She recommended an intern for his congressional office – and that intern got the job.
She introduced him to officials at the Chinese consulate. U.S. intelligence officials believe she was working directly for China's Ministry of State Security – the country's primary civilian spy agency.
Fang didn't just network her way into photo ops. FBI wiretaps recorded Fang in sexual encounters with at least two elected officials – one of them a Midwestern mayor. The file the FBI built on her is extensive.
In 2015, the FBI briefed Swalwell that Fang was a suspected MSS operative. Within weeks she was gone – back to China. Swalwell cut contact and claimed cooperation. Nancy Pelosi kept him on the House Intelligence Committee anyway.
The American public didn't learn any of this until December 2020, when Axios broke the story. Even then, Washington moved on before anyone got a full accounting.
Kash Patel Orders FBI to Release the Fang Fang Files
This past weekend, FBI agents in California spent days sorting through the Fang Fang files on Kash Patel's orders.
Agents were directed to lightly redact the documents and prepare them for senior administration officials in Washington. FBI leadership has also discussed sending agents to China to interview Fang directly – because officials believe she holds damaging information about Swalwell that the public has never seen.
Swalwell's response was instant. His lawyers fired a cease-and-desist letter at Patel demanding he halt the release within three days or face legal action. The letter claims releasing files from a closed investigation would violate federal law and longstanding DOJ policy.
That framing deserves scrutiny. Releasing files from an investigation that produced no charges is unusual.
Having a suspected foreign spy embedded in your fundraising operation, picking your congressional staff, and introducing you to Chinese consular officials while you sit on the House Intelligence Committee is also unusual. One of those situations demands more public scrutiny than the other.
Swalwell is running for governor of California and calling the whole thing a Trump hit job. "Donald Trump and Kash Patel do not get to pick the next governor," he posted Saturday. "Californians do."
He said the same thing when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy booted him from the Intel Committee in 2023. The scandal didn't go away then either.
What the FBI's Chinese Spy Investigation Actually Found
Breitbart confirmed in 2021 that a classified intelligence report contained "intricate and intimate" details about the Swalwell-Fang relationship – including specific sexual acts. Swalwell's office declined to comment, citing potential classification. He did not deny the documents existed.
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation in 2021 and closed it two years later with no action taken. That's what Patel is about to change. The cease-and-desist letter isn't a legal defense – it's a confession that something in those files is worth fighting to keep hidden.
The Heritage Foundation has documented that China's influence operations against American politicians dwarf anything the Soviet Union ever attempted. The MSS has a dedicated unit focused solely on California, which Beijing views as the premier entry point into U.S. national politics – the place where future congressmen, senators, and governors get built.
Fang wasn't freelancing. She was running a long-game operation designed to place assets inside the offices of America's rising political class.
Swalwell became a member of the House Intelligence Committee – with access to the country's most classified China briefings – while the woman who helped put him there was reporting back to Beijing.
That's not a footnote. That's the story. And if Kash Patel gets his way, California voters will finally get to read it before they decide whether to make Eric Swalwell their governor.
Sources:
- Breitbart News, "Report: FBI Director Kash Patel Wants Documents on Democrat Eric Swalwell and Chinese Spy Fang Fang Released," Breitbart, March 29, 2026.
- Fox News, "Unearthed Photo: Swalwell Meeting with Top CCP Official Raises Alarm Bells," Fox News, January 31, 2026.
- American Enterprise Institute, "The Poetic Justice in Eric Swalwell's Relationship with a Chinese Spy," AEI, May 25, 2022.
- Heritage Foundation, "Why State Legislatures Must Confront Chinese Infiltration," The Heritage Foundation.
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Top Republicans Call on FBI to Provide Information about CCP's Infiltration in U.S. Government Institutions," December 14, 2020.
- Rep. Greg Steube, "Steube Demands Investigation into Swalwell's Ties with Chinese Spy," steube.house.gov, December 22, 2020.
