{"id":2646179,"date":"2026-08-17T18:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignfbi-docs-alleged-chinese-spy-fang-fang-sold-access-to-eric-swalwell\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T18:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:07:11","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignfbi-docs-alleged-chinese-spy-fang-fang-sold-access-to-eric-swalwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignfbi-docs-alleged-chinese-spy-fang-fang-sold-access-to-eric-swalwell\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Docs: Alleged Chinese Spy Sold Access To Eric Swalwell"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignfbi-docs-alleged-chinese-spy-fang-fang-sold-access-to-eric-swalwell%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2646179&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Declassified documents reveal that FBI evidence suggests former Rep. Eric Swalwell of California was compromised by Fang Fang, a Chinese national and alleged spy, who operated an influence scheme involving selling internships in Swalwell&#8217;s congressional office in exchange for illegal campaign contributions. The FBI believed Swalwell had a sexual relationship with Fang, which may have compromised him from the start of his congressional career in 2012. Fang facilitated the scheme, using U.S. nationals too hide contributions and promising reimbursement, despite knowing it was illegal. The FBI initially investigated Swalwell for bribery but later focused solely on fang, whose <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >activities included international money smuggling<\/a> and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Fang left the U.S. in 2015 after her home was raided, and the investigation was closed in 2017.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had evidence former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was compromised by concubine and alleged Chinese spy Fang Fang, who seems to have run an operation selling access to Swalwell and congressional internships for illegal campaign contributions, according to newly declassified documents.<\/p>\n<p>The documents related to the probe called \u201cFreshman Fifteen\u201d were released Monday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force. They show the FBI believed Swalwell had been compromised through sexual relations with Fang, a Chinese national, who placed foreign interns in his office and procured illicit donations. The FBI was simultaneously trying to turn Fang into an informant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInvestigation has revealed that Fang Fang, a Chinese foreign national residing in the United States, is the facilitator of a scheme to trade internships in Congressman Eric Swalwell\u2019s Congressional office in return for campaign contributions, potentially in violation of Title 18 USC 201,\u201d an FBI memo states. \u201cIn at least two cases, Fang used conduits to conceal herself as a prohibited Foreign National source,\u201d meaning she found U.S. nationals to make the donations on her behalf.<\/p>\n<p>Fang reportedly asked contributors directly for donations and \u201cpromised\u201d to reimburse them in some way, and the FBI noted that she \u201cunderstood it was illegal\u201d for her to contribute, but that she said she was \u201cgood at convincing other people to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Fang] advised this may be a good way to create influence with Swalwell,\u201d according to declassified documents.<\/p>\n<p>Swalwell also admitted to the FBI in 2015 that he had a sexual relationship with Fang, and said in a 2016 interview with the FBI that he thought anyone Fang suggested for an internship was from the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Associations, which represented a key demographic for Swalwell. \u201cA significant portion of SWALWELL\u2019s constituents are Chinese American and diversity is important,\u201d the documents state.<\/p>\n<p>According to the documents, Swalwell may have been compromised from the very beginning of his congressional career, meeting Fang in 2012 during his first campaign for the House. He started having \u201cphysical relations\u201d with her, \u201cbut never dated her or had a romantic relationship. March 2015 was the last time Swalwell had physical relations with Fang. Swalwell considered their physical relations to be casual, but believed that Fang was interested in a closer, romantic relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to Freshman Fifteen undercover operation, the FBI attempted to recruit Fang as an informant on Chinese attempts to conduct influence operations on public officials. According to FBI memos on \u201cRusty Thumbs\u201d (Fang\u2019s FBI codename), she would not talk in much detail about China, but spoke openly about her operation to get donations to Swalwell\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p>However, she was known by the FBI to have connections to Chinese intelligence operators, which is why she was targeted by the FBI in the first place, according to the documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven [Rusty Thumb\u2019s (RT)] apparent connections with [China\u2019s Ministry of State Security (MSS)] personnel and the PRC government, coupled with her continuing contact with U.S. and local government officials, RT may be able to report on MSS influence campaigns directed at the U.S. government,\u201d one document reads.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI initially intended to investigate Swalwell for bribery based on selling internship placements for campaign contributions, and stated the purpose was to \u201cobtain sufficient evidence to indict and arrest Swalwell and Fang for violations of campaign finance laws and quid pro quo exchanges.\u201d Instead of maintaining the investigation into Swalwell, the FBI decided to narrow the investigation solely to Fang in February 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Fang\u2019s home was raided by the FBI in 2015,  a Chinese national who volunteered for Swalwell\u2019s campaign said in an interview with the bureau.<\/p>\n<p>According to one winery owner who had financially assisted Fang with leases on a car and apartment, Fang offered to pay him back if he donated to Swalwell\u2019s campaign. In May 2015 she told him she was going back to China and that the FBI had questioned her about the alleged donation operation. Fang also allegedly admitted to the winery owner that \u201cher parents used to work for the Chinese government in a department akin to the US Secret Service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FBI closed the investigation in 2017, noting it had discovered evidence Fang had broken multiple laws and had engaged in international money smuggling, acted as an unregistered foreign agent, made prohibited contributions in the name of another, and more. Fang reportedly left the country sometime in 2015, and the State Department banned Fang from returning to the U.S.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FBI links Swalwell to Chinese spy Fang Fang, illegal schemes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2646180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Eric_Swalwell_47210408611-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[40087,35815,12646,50645,50611],"class_list":["post-2646179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-chinese-spy","tag-eric-swalwell","tag-espionage","tag-fbi-2","tag-national-security-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Eric_Swalwell_47210408611-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646179"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2646183,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646179\/revisions\/2646183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}