Newly Declassified FBI Files on Eric Swalwell and Chinese Spy

Newly released FBI records, declassified under President Trump and put out by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, add detail to the long-running case of former Rep. Eric Swalwell and suspected Chinese operative Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang. The files cover alleged illegal donations, intern referrals, and an earlier FBI bid to flip Fang into an informant.

The bureau opened an investigation codenamed “Freshman Fifteen” in March 2014. Agents described Fang as the alleged facilitator of a scheme using campaign money and access to Swalwell’s office.

One memo said investigators believed Fang used other people to hide herself as the true source of contributions, because foreign nationals cannot give to federal campaigns. Agents concluded some money still traced back to her. They also examined whether internships and access were traded for donations.

In one episode, Fang allegedly told a person to bring a checkbook to a fundraiser and offered to reimburse the gift. That person declined. In March 2015 she solicited a $1,000 contribution from someone who was secretly an FBI source. Agents approved the transaction as part of the case.

At one stage the stated goal was to see whether Swalwell and Fang could be charged with campaign-finance crimes or an illegal quid pro quo. Swalwell was interviewed more than once. In February 2017 he was dropped as a subject. The investigation stayed on Fang.

Swalwell attorney Sara Azari said the files change nothing. “There is nothing new here,” she said, arguing the government’s own records show Swalwell “did nothing wrong” and that there was no basis to charge him.

The records also show that before “Freshman Fifteen,” the FBI tried to recruit Fang. Agents gave her the codename “Rusty Thumbs,” used an undercover employee and a fake business, and believed she could talk about Chinese influence operations. One memo identified her parents as known Ministry of State Security officers.

Fang spoke openly during that pitch about connecting candidates with donors and signed a contractor agreement with the undercover operation in 2013. That effort ended shortly before the donation investigation began.

Fang referred interns into Swalwell’s political and congressional shops. Swalwell told agents he saw those referrals as tied to the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association. Closing records said there was evidence Fang broke laws on foreign-national and conduit contributions. She left for China in 2015 as interviews around her started. No criminal case was brought against Swalwell.