Kevin McCarthy kicked Eric Swalwell off the House Intelligence Committee because of his ties to a Chinese spy.
Now Kash Patel is about to release the files Swalwell never wanted anyone to see.
So Swalwell did what every panicking politician does – he went on CNN to threaten the people investigating him.
Swalwell Cites Washington Post as Proof FBI Agents Are Breaking the Law
Appearing on CNN, Representative Eric Swalwell addressed FBI agents directly — telling them they are being asked "to break the law every single day."
CNN host Kate Bolduan asked for evidence.
Swalwell cited The Washington Post and The New York Times.
His evidence: a Washington Post story and a New York Times story. The papers that spent three years insisting the Russia collusion hoax was real.
The actual threat he delivered was plain enough: "You will be protected if you come forward right now. If you do not come forward right now and you enable more corruption on Epstein or the weaponization, you will be before Congress, and it will all come out."
A sitting congressman just threatened federal law enforcement agents — on camera, with zero evidence of wrongdoing — because those agents are gathering files about him and a Chinese spy.
Kash Patel Has a Decade of Christine Fang Files and FBI Agents Ready to Talk
This is where it gets important.
FBI Director Kash Patel isn't acting on a hunch. He is pressing to release a decade-old counterintelligence file on Christine "Fang Fang" — the Chinese Communist Party intelligence operative who embedded herself in California Democrat politics between 2011 and 2015.
Fang wasn't a casual acquaintance. She fundraised for Swalwell's 2014 congressional re-election campaign. She placed at least one intern in his congressional office. She photographed herself with him at events dating to his days as a Dublin city councilmember. Two sources directly familiar with the counterintelligence investigation told The Federalist she and Swalwell had a sexual relationship.
Swalwell has never denied it — he refused to answer the question for years, claiming it would involve classified information.
When the story first broke in 2020, Sean Davis of The Federalist reported that FBI investigators had wondered whether Swalwell tipped Fang Fang off after being briefed on her spy status — allowing her to flee the country before she could be arrested.
FBI agents in California were directed to gather and redact documents in preparation for sharing with senior Trump administration officials. Bureau leadership also discussed sending agents to China to interview Fang, believing she holds damaging information about the California lawmaker.
Reopening a counterintelligence investigation is not a smear campaign.
The Cease and Desist Letter That Told the Whole Story
When Swalwell's lawyers sent Kash Patel a cease and desist letter, they revealed exactly how panicked the congressman is.
The letter demanded the FBI agree in writing not to release the files, threatened Patel personally with legal liability, and invoked the Privacy Act of 1974 and First Amendment protections.
What the letter also revealed: Swalwell has hired former FBI Special Agent Joseph Pientka III as a staff aide — a man with a direct pipeline inside the bureau. According to Swalwell himself, it was FBI agents who tipped off The Washington Post about Patel's plans in the first place.
Swalwell denied Pam Bondi warned him. He denied anyone in the administration tipped him off.
If that's true, he just confirmed there are FBI agents actively working to undermine Kash Patel — on behalf of a California Democrat who put a Chinese spy's intern in his office.
Swalwell Is Running for California Governor and the Fang Fang Files Drop in 30 Days
California's gubernatorial primary is June 2. Early voting begins in early May. Swalwell is positioning himself as a leading Democrat in the race.
Swalwell knows these files drop at the worst possible moment for him — and the California primary functions as a "jungle" format, meaning if the Democrat vote fractures among eight candidates while two Republicans consolidate, GOP candidates Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco both advance to the general election in November.
Swalwell has one play left: call it election interference, threaten the investigators, and hope CNN lets him frame the story his way.
Even Kate Bolduan wasn't buying it. When he cited The Washington Post and The New York Times as his only evidence that FBI agents are breaking the law, she pressed him. He had nothing else.
The House Ethics Committee cleared Swalwell in 2023. Speaker McCarthy still kicked him off the House Intelligence Committee. Kash Patel listed him as a "malign actor" in his book. Now the FBI is reopening the file.
Going on CNN to threaten federal agents isn't courage. It's the act of a man who knows what's in those documents — and will do anything to keep Americans from reading them.
Sources:
- Cristina Laila, "Eric Swalwell Threatens FBI Agents Amid Fang Fang Drama After Bondi's Firing," The Gateway Pundit, April 3, 2026.
- Elizabeth Stauffer, "Swalwell Warns FBI Agents: Come Forward or Face Subpoenas From Dem House," Legal Insurrection, April 4, 2026.
- C. Douglas Golden, "Report: The Last Straw That Led to Trump Firing Pam Bondi Had to Do with Eric Swalwell," The Western Journal, April 3, 2026.
- Mary McCue Bell, "Rep. Eric Swalwell Fights Against Releasing Closed Spy Probe Files," Washington Times, April 1, 2026.
- Staff, "Report: FBI Wants Documents on Swalwell and 'Fang Fang' Released," Breitbart, March 29, 2026.
- Mollie Hemingway and Tristan Justice, "Swalwell Refuses to Disclose Whether He Had a Sexual Relationship with a Suspected Chinese Spy," The Federalist, December 9, 2020
