Eric Swalwell — the California congressman who spent four years screaming that Donald Trump was a Russian spy — just sent a cease-and-desist letter to FBI Director Kash Patel demanding that the FBI *not* release files from its investigation into Swalwell’s cozy relationship with a Chinese Communist Party operative named Christine Fang.
For those who missed it, Fang Fang (yes, that’s what they call her) was a suspected Chinese intelligence asset who embedded herself in California politics between 2011 and 2015. She volunteered for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign, helped him raise money, and even placed an intern in his congressional office. The FBI eventually flagged her as a potential spy and she fled the country in 2015 before investigators could close in.
The nature of Swalwell’s relationship with Fang Fang has never been fully explained. He’s never denied having a personal relationship with her. When asked about it, he hides behind the fact that the FBI gave him a “defensive briefing” and he “cooperated.” Great. So did every mob informant in witness protection. That doesn’t mean you weren’t in bed with the enemy — possibly literally.
Now Kash Patel has directed FBI agents to review and redact the investigative files for public release. This is the same kind of transparency that Swalwell demanded for years when the target was Donald Trump. Remember when he sat on the House Intelligence Committee and leaked classified information to CNN every other Tuesday? Remember when he insisted the American people had a “right to know” what was in Trump’s tax returns, phone calls, and breakfast cereal preferences?
Funny how the transparency champion develops a sudden allergy to transparency when it’s his own files on the table.
Swalwell’s lawyers — Sean Hecker and Norm Eisen — fired off the cease-and-desist letter claiming the release would be a “transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for Governor of California.” They even accused Patel of violating DOJ policy that prohibits public investigatory action against political candidates in the two months before an election, since early voting for California’s June 2 gubernatorial primary begins in May.
(Wait — Swalwell is running for governor? Of *California*? The guy who got honeypotted by a Chinese spy wants to be in charge of America’s largest state economy and its military bases? That’s reassuring.)
Here’s where this gets interesting. Swalwell held a bizarre press conference last week insisting the case is “closed” and calling the whole thing “lies and bulls**t.” That’s a curious level of panic for a man who claims he did nothing wrong. If the files contain nothing damaging, why not let them come out? Why not wave them through and say, “See? I told you so”?
Because he knows what’s in those files. And Kash Patel knows what’s in those files. And the rest of us are about to find out. My guess is they don’t paint a flattering picture of the Congressman. He doth protest too much!
Swalwell’s cease-and-desist letter has no legal teeth — it’s a demand, not a court order. And the last time we checked, the FBI Director doesn’t take orders from the subjects of FBI investigations. If Swalwell wants to sue, he’ll have to explain in open court why these files are so dangerous to him. Discovery in that lawsuit would be absolutely delicious.
Mark my words: Eric Swalwell will never be governor of California. The Fang Fang files are going to come out — either through Patel’s release or through the inevitable leak — and whatever is in them is going to end his political career. You don’t send cease-and-desist letters over files that exonerate you.