FBI Files Reveal Suspected Chinese Spy Fang Fang Solicited Illegal Donations for Eric Swalwell
Newly declassified FBI records reveal that suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang, better known as Fang Fang, solicited illegal campaign contributions benefiting former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell while cultivating a close relationship with the California politician.
The records were released Monday after the White House declassified files from a years-long FBI investigation. The bureau began an undercover operation in 2014 after receiving information alleging that internships in Swalwell’s congressional offices were being offered in exchange for campaign contributions.
Investigators suspected that some contributions were being funneled through third parties to conceal the identities of the actual donors. In certain cases, the FBI believed foreign nationals were behind the money, which would violate federal campaign finance law.
The investigation, code-named “Freshman Fifteen,” included interviews with Swalwell, campaign donors and other people connected to his political operation. Investigators ultimately did not find enough evidence to substantiate allegations that Swalwell himself participated in an internships-for-donations arrangement.
But the FBI reached far different conclusions about Fang. According to a 2017 bureau memo, investigators uncovered evidence indicating that she solicited illegal straw donations from foreign nationals, destroyed records, made false statements, smuggled cash and acted as an unregistered foreign agent.
The FBI determined that Fang had helped secure at least four “conduit campaign contributions” benefiting Swalwell during 2013 and 2014. Investigators also found that she asked one potential donor for a $5,000 contribution to Swalwell’s campaign in exchange for arranging a meeting with him and sought even more money in connection with obtaining an internship.
The investigation became serious enough that the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section approved using an undercover donation as part of an effort to determine whether Fang and Swalwell could be implicated in campaign finance violations. The section was headed at the time by Jack Smith, who years later became special counsel investigating President Trump.
The operation fell apart after Fang became suspicious that an individual she was dealing with was a government agent. She subsequently left the United States and returned to China, effectively ending the FBI’s opportunity to continue building its undercover case against her.
The records also shed new light on Fang’s suspected intelligence connections. People interviewed by investigators reportedly suspected she could be working for the Chinese Communist Party, while the FBI uncovered connections between her family and China’s Ministry of State Security.
Swalwell acknowledged to investigators that he had a sexual relationship with Fang, but denied knowing about any scheme to illegally funnel campaign contributions through intermediaries. He said he viewed Fang primarily as a contact within a local Asian-American civic organization and believed people she recommended for positions were associated with that organization.
Despite investigators concluding that Fang had broken multiple laws, she was never prosecuted. A 2017 FBI memo said prosecution was considered nonviable for “national security reasons” after she had already left the country and been barred from returning to the United States.
The declassified documents add significant new details to a relationship that first became a national controversy years ago. While the FBI did not establish that Swalwell knowingly participated in the alleged illegal campaign finance activity, investigators concluded that Fang herself arranged illegal contributions benefiting his campaign while simultaneously developing extraordinary access to the Democratic politician.