A push by FBI Director Kash Patel to revisit records from a decade-old investigation tied to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and a suspected Chinese spy could give the Democrat’s gubernatorial bid an unexpected boost.
The directive has sparked internal concern that selectively released material could be used to damage Swalwell politically, reviving scrutiny of his past association with Christine Fang, according to law enforcement sources. The original investigation, which examined Fang’s ties to local politicians and her fundraising assistance to Swalwell more than a decade ago, was ultimately closed by the Justice Department without producing any criminal charges.
The House Ethics Committee closed its bipartisan investigation in 2023, with Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) and then-ranking member Susan Wild (D-PA) stating they would take no further action.
Swalwell said Monday that President Donald Trump and Patel are “trying to interfere with the California election.”
The Justice Department has operated under an informal guideline discouraging actions that could influence an election within 60 days of voting, though the policy is not legally binding. California’s primary is scheduled for June 2.
“The president dreams of a servant in Sacramento: the western White House,” Swalwell said during the press conference. “But unfortunately for him, our campaign is winning.”
Indeed, the renewed focus could hand Swalwell an unexpected advantage of casting himself as the target of political retribution, energizing Democratic voters in a deep-blue state where opposition to Trump remains a potent rallying cry.
“Trump and his FBI thug Kash Patel have to be both brain dead and tone deaf to not understand that trying to smear Swalwell at the last minute with a long-closed investigation in which he was cleared is actually a gift to his campaign,” veteran political strategist Garry South told the Washington Examiner. “They might as well buy billboards all over California saying ‘Swalwell is the Democrat running for governor Trump fears the most.’ Or put it on the Goodyear blimp. Sheer stupidity.”
Swalwell has been among the highest-polling Democrats in the congested gubernatorial primary, where eight Democrats and two Republicans are vying for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) seat. The state uses a jungle primary, meaning the top two vote getters in the June primary, regardless of party, move on to November’s general election. Newsom, who is term-limited, is expected to run for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
Swalwell has been slowly separating himself from the pack, though not by much. Over the weekend, he picked up the California Teachers Association’s endorsement, the last major organized labor prize. Swalwell now has the support of all of the biggest labor heavyweights in the state. Neither Newsom nor Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has made endorsements in the race.
The FBI-Swalwell episode underscores a broader tension between national security concerns and political weaponization — and raises fresh questions about how far federal power can be stretched in the heat of a high-stakes gubernatorial race, Jeff Lee, managing principal at 100 Mile Strategies, told the Washington Examiner.
“FBI Director Kash Patel’s reported push to release over-decade-old investigation files and potentially sensitive information on Rep. Swalwell would likely depart from past FBI standard practices and feed into a narrative that the Trump administration was politically targeting him,” he said. “The direct confrontation of Rep. Swalwell and Director Patel could spotlight further attention onto the gubernatorial candidate’s past resistance to President Trump, including his role as a former impeachment manager during the first term. With just two months left before the California primary, with no clear front-runner, the FBI’s attention on Swalwell could help him gain precious momentum with voters.”
Political strategist David McLaughlin believes that for the investigation to have a negative impact on Swalwell’s campaign, voters would have to believe Trump and Patel’s intentions are in “good faith and on the level.”
“I think a sizable majority of California voters do not believe that,” he added.
But Adin Lencher, founder of Carroll Street Campaigns, argues that some voters may be swayed.
“If this looks political, it helps him,” he told the Washington Examiner. “If it looks factual, it hurts him.”
Sam Mirejovsky, a partner at Sam & Ash and a conservative commentator, said Swalwell “has a long history of making demonstrably false statements, especially when it comes to his own judgment and national security,” and that releasing the files of his investigation could expose some of his weaknesses.
“Time and again, he has downplayed or deflected serious questions about his associations, acting like the rules do not apply to him while lecturing everyone else about threats to democracy,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Now, with the FBI under new leadership reviewing those old files, the spotlight is back on his ties to Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, a Chinese national who was deeply involved in his early campaigns.”
PATEL LOOKING TO RELEASE OLD FILES ON SWALWELL’S TIES TO ALLEGED CHINESE SPY
Mirejovsky added that the “low-hanging fruit” is not the rumors of a personal relationship with Fang but her activities and bundling for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign.
“As a Chinese national operating in the United States on a student visa, her heavy involvement should have raised immediate red flags,” he said. “Anyone paying attention could see she was a foreigner with clear ties to Chinese community organizations and networks. You do not need confirmed spy credentials or CCP orders to know something is off when a foreign national is bundling campaign contributions for a rising United States politician. Willful ignorance is not a defense under laws like the Foreign Agents Registration Act or related statutes on undisclosed foreign influence.”