Eric Swalwell Demands FBI Halt Release of Chinese Spy Files

California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore) escalated his war with the Trump administration’s FBI on Monday, dispatching lawyers with a cease-and-desist letter to Director Kash Patel demanding the bureau immediately cease any effort to release decade-old investigative files tied to suspected Chinese Communist Party asset Christine “Fang Fang” Fang.  Prompting a valid question: What is he hiding?

What is he hiding? https://t.co/5ekjgQYU22

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 31, 2026

In a simultaneously abrupt and oddly staged press conference outside the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco—flanked by SEIU union officials—Swalwell declared the matter “closed” more than a decade after the FBI first investigated Fang’s infiltration of his early political career. “This case is closed—the bureau said, over 10 years ago, all we did was help,” Swalwell insisted, while blasting Patel as a “temporary employee” engaged in a “horrendous abuse of power” and accusing the Trump administration of “weaponizing” federal law enforcement to interfere in California’s 2026 governor’s race.   

Swalwell’s attorneys, in the letter obtained by multiple outlets, gave the FBI three days to comply or face legal action, claiming any disclosure would violate federal privacy laws and amount to a “transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for Governor of California.”  

The renewed scrutiny stems from reports that Patel has ordered agents to compile and review the “extensive” files—some classified—detailing Fang’s decade-old efforts to cultivate Swalwell while he served on the Dublin City Council and later in Congress. Fang, a Chinese national who attended Cal State East Bay, bundled campaign donations for Swalwell’s 2014 congressional bid, recommended an intern for his office, and reportedly engaged in romantic or sexual relationships with him and at least two Midwestern mayors as part of a broader CCP influence operation. She abruptly left the United States in 2015 amid the FBI counterintelligence probe.   

No criminal charges were ever filed against Swalwell, and both the FBI and a subsequent House Ethics Committee review found no wrongdoing on his part. Yet the congressman’s past ties resurfaced dramatically in 2020 Axios reporting and have haunted his political ambitions ever since.  

As California Globe readers will recall, Swalwell first drew national attention for the Fang Fang scandal when he remained on the House Intelligence Committee despite the revelations—prompting questions about national security vetting and Democratic leadership priorities. The scandal was part of a broader pattern of Chinese influence operations targeting California politicians, as detailed in our reporting at the time.  

Swalwell’s current gubernatorial campaign has been dogged by similar red flags. 

Just days ago, we reported that the East Bay congressman doubled down on radical open-border rhetoric, calling to abolish ICE while positioning himself as a “moderate” alternative in the crowded Democratic primary field.  

Earlier coverage exposed his spotty attendance record in Congress while campaigning statewide in his signature fleece vest, dubbing him “the missing California congressman.”  

Questions about his actual California residency—complete with a reported room rental in a family home to satisfy the five-year requirement—have also fueled scrutiny.  

At Monday’s presser, Swalwell framed the FBI’s actions as election interference, warning that “Democrats will be in the majority in about nine months” and promising retaliatory congressional hearings against those who “pressured” federal agencies. 

He also referenced over $305,000 in campaign payments to a white-collar defense firm since 2016, which his team attributes to “Trump’s retaliatory investigations.”   

Critics, however, note that the files Patel seeks to review predate the current administration and were originally compiled under the Obama-era FBI. With Swalwell the apparent Democratic frontrunner in a race that could determine California’s direction on everything from public safety to energy policy, calls for full transparency are growing.  

Whether the FBI ultimately releases the documents—or Swalwell’s legal threats succeed—remains to be seen. What is clear is that the congressman who once dismissed the Fang Fang matter as “lies and bullshit” now finds himself once again defending his fitness to lead the nation’s largest state while the bureau digs up the very files he insists should stay buried.  

California Globe will continue to monitor developments in this story and Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign.