An explosive investigation from Axios has revealed alleged ties between a suspected Chinese intelligence operative and several U.S. politicians, one of them East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell.
The publication reported U.S. officials believed it to be part of "a political intelligence operation run by China’s main spy agency between 2011 and 2015" that ended during the Obama administration. The spy at the center of the story, allegedly named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, specifically targeted "up-and-coming politicians" who had the potential succeed on the national stage.
Officials don’t think she was given or passed along any classified information.
Axois' year-long investigation reported Fang was a part of Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign, doing fundraising on the Congressman’s behalf. She reportedly helped place an intern in his office and is said to have "interacted with Swalwell at multiple events over the course of several years."
As U.S. intelligence officials tracked Fang’s activity, they alerted Swalwell’s office to the ongoing probe in 2015. Axios said Swalwell "immediately cut off all ties to Fang" at that time.
The former presidential candidate has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
A statement from Swalwell’s office to Axios read: "Rep. Swalwell, long ago, provided information about this person - whom he met more than eight years ago, and whom he hasn’t seen in nearly six years - to the FBI. To protect information that might be classified, he will not participate in your story."
Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and sharp critic of President Trump, told POLITICO he learned of the Axios investigation at the same time his unsuccessful bid for the White House was ending in 2019: "I’ve been a critic of the president. I’ve spoken out against him. I was on both committees that worked to impeach him. The timing feels like that should be looked at."
She also reportedly volunteered for now-Congressman Ro Khanna’s unsuccessful bid to the U.S. House in 2014. Former Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison and former Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong both told Axios of their familiarity with Fang, who volunteered and appeared frequently at Bay Area political events.
Fang, who apparently was enrolled in an unnamed Bay Area university during the time of this activity, has reportedly left the country and didn’t respond to requests for comment. "She used political gatherings, civic society conferences, campaign rallies, and campus events to connect with elected officials and other prominent figures," according to the investigation.
U.S. officials have come to believe she "was overseeing likely unwitting subagents" in placing them in various political offices.
The FBI’s San Francisco Division was one of the leading agencies in the investigation into her.
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