Six years ago, Rep. Eric Swalwell had a relationship with a Chinese national, Fang Fang, aka Christine Fang. The woman placed an intern in his congressional office, and also handled some fundraising duties for his re-election campaign.
The FBI believes that Fang is a Chinese spy. The congressional leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was briefed on Fang and her suspicious activities. So why would Pelosi put Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee?
It may be as simple as Republicans don’t want him there. But Pelosi is more likely covering up the suspicions surrounding Swalwell which could ruin what may be a promising career. Swalwell ran for president in 2020 and is well thought of by the radicals. Obviously, they don’t care if the Chinese compromised the congressman. But Republicans in the House are outraged.
Pelosi just reappointed Eric Swalwell to the Intelligence Committee. Based on the briefing she and I received together, Swalwell should not be on the panel in charge of guarding our nation's secrets.
Next week, I will offer a resolution to remove him from the Intel Committee.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) March 12, 2021
In December, McCarthy said an FBI briefing he received on Swalwell’s alleged contact with a Chinese spy left him sure the California Democrat should not be serving on the Intelligence Committee.
“I just think there are definitely 200 other Democrats that I know could fill that place,” McCarthy added.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was also briefed Friday by the FBI about Swalwell’s relationship six years ago with a suspected Chinese spy known as Fang Fang, or Christine Fang. Other Republicans have hammered Swalwell over his relationship with Fang.
Pelosi has previously stood by Swalwell and her decision to appoint him to the Intelligence Committee in January of 2015. “I don’t have any concern about Mr. Swalwell,” Pelosi said in December.
Ms. Fang was a honeytrap. She also had relationships with other prominent businessmen and politicians before she was suddenly pulled out of the U.S. and went home to China.
Pelosi said GOP and Democratic leadership were briefed “at the same moment” in the spring of 2015 about a suspected Chinese spy targeting members of Congress, and the issue was addressed at the time.
“In terms of Mr. Swalwell — in the spring of 2015, the leadership of the House and the [Intelligence] Committee were informed that overtures from a Chinese person were being made to members of Congress,” Pelosi said in December. “When that was made known to the members of Congress, it was over.”
Note that Pelosi didn’t say anything about Swalwell in that statement — just that a Chinese spy was targeting members of Congress and that the issue was “addressed at the time.” There still has not been an explanation from Swalwell about what kind of relationship he had with Fang or if she or the intern she placed in his congressional office had access to classified information.
It’s not like the U.S. Congress has been immune over the years to being penetrated by enemy spies. And there have been many Democratic congressmen sympathetic to Russia and Cuba over the years.
But Pelosi isn’t concerned about potential security breaches. Protecting a Democratic member takes precedence over such mundane considerations as security.
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