Former Rep. Eric Swalwell had sexual relations with Chinese spy Christine Fang 'on a handful of occasions,' FBI docs show

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell admitted to the FBI that he had intimate encounters with suspected Chinese intelligence agent Christine "Fang Fang" Fang, including one that occurred after he had taken a powerful sleeping pill, according to records declassified by the Trump administration and first reported by Just The News.

The documents, released Monday by the Government Transparency Working Group of the White House, detail two interviews Swalwell had with FBI agents at a field office in Oakland, Calif.—the first in May 2015 and the second in March 2016—as part of an investigation into Fang's role in alleged illegal contributions to the then-representative's campaign and in placing interns within his office.

During the first interview, Swalwell acknowledged having had physical contact with Fang Fang "on a handful of occasions," and identified March 2015 as the date of the last of those encounters. The Democrat had been elected to the House of Representatives in 2013, that is, a few years before much of the romantic relationship took place.

During the second interview, a year later, Swalwell recounted an incident in which Fang showed up at his apartment and knocked on the door; the encounter continued after he had taken Ambien (a sleeping pill), according to his own testimony, which is why he said he could recall only fragments of the incident. FBI records indicate that this incident "probably" took place before Swalwell took office. "Swalwell barely remembers the event because he had taken Ambien prior to FANG arriving," the agents summarized in their report.

Swalwell himself described the connection as "casual" and insisted to investigators that there was never a formal romantic relationship with Fang, although he admitted to suspecting that she "may have wanted a more romantic relationship." The documents trace the origin of their contact to 2012, when the two went out together weeks after meeting.

Beyond the personal aspect, the FBI file details that the agency identified financial transactions which, according to its records, show that "Fang Fang" used intermediaries to conceal her status as a foreign source and thus channel contributions to Swalwell's campaign, at least twice in 2013 and twice more in 2014. She is also accused of referring candidates for internships in the congressman's office, something Swalwell said he had always associated with the Asian and Pacific American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), an organization with which Fang had ties.

Despite examining the possibility of a scheme involving favors in exchange for access and internships, the FBI found no evidence that Swalwell had committed federal corruption violations, and in 2017 he was no longer listed as a subject of the investigation. The agency did conclude that "Fang Fang" violated federal election laws regarding foreign contributions.

The documents also reveal that the FBI had previously attempted to recruit Fang Fang as a confidential source under the code name "RUSTY THUMBS," due to suspicions about her ties to the Ministry of State Security of China, including the suspicion that her parents were Chinese intelligence officers. According to Swalwell's testimony, Fang repeatedly urged him to travel to China and even extended a similar invitation to someone else in his circle during an election-night party in 2014.

The former representative stated that he had cut off all contact with her after receiving, in late April 2015, a briefing from the agents themselves regarding the risk that he was being targeted by foreign intelligence.

The incident adds to a history of personal controversies that ultimately led Swalwell to step away from electoral politics. In April of this year, he resigned from his congressional seat and withdrew his candidacy for governor of California after allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault came to light—accusations he denied at the time.