The Chinese spy bundled campaign contributions for California Rep. Eric Swalwell and planted an intern in the Democrat’s congressional office, according to a new report.
“Campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships.”
Story continues below advertisement
Eric Swalwell must step down from House Intel until we find out what kind of blackmail material the Chinese communists have on him.
As do the the other corrupt, compromised Democrats.
The "Russian Collusion" conspiracy Eric Swalwell pushed without evidence for years, certainly benefited China.
It was used to attack the one leader who wasn't owned by them.
Not to mention the country was focused on a once but now waning superpower instead of the threat, China. https://t.co/fQu7keL82y
— Rich Baris The People's Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) December 8, 2020
Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians
By: Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, Axios, December 8, 2020:
A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015, Axios found in a yearlong investigation.
Why it matters: The alleged operation offers a rare window into how Beijing has tried to gain access to and influence U.S. political circles.
While this suspected operative’s activities appear to have ended during the Obama administration, concerns about Beijing’s influence operations have spanned President Trump’s time in office and will continue to be a core focus for U.S. counterintelligence during the Biden administration.
Clockwise from top left: Fang with then-Dublin City Councilmember Eric Swalwell at an October 2012 student event; undated photo of Fang, now former Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison and Rep. Judy Chu; Fang with then-Rep. Mike Honda and then-San Jose city Councilmember Ash Kalra at a March 2014 event at the Chinese Embassy in D.C. Sources: Renren, Facebook, Facebook
The woman at the center of the operation, a Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country who had the potential to make it big on the national stage.
Through campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors, Fang was able to gain proximity to political power, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials and one former elected official.
Even though U.S. officials do not believe Fang received or passed on classified information, the case “was a big deal, because there were some really, really sensitive people that were caught up” in the intelligence network, a current senior U.S. intelligence official said.
Private but unclassified information about government officials — such as their habits, preferences, schedules, social networks, and even rumors about them — is a form of political intelligence. Collecting such information is a key part of what foreign intelligence agencies do.
Among the most significant targets of Fang’s efforts was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
Fang took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign, according to a Bay Area political operative and a current U.S. intelligence official. Swalwell’s office was directly aware of these activities on its behalf, the political operative said. That same political operative, who witnessed Fang fundraising on Swalwell’s behalf, found no evidence of illegal contributions.
Federal Election Commission records don’t indicate Fang herself made donations, which are prohibited from foreign nationals.
Fang helped place at least one intern in Swalwell’s office, according to those same two people, and interacted with Swalwell at multiple events over the course of several years.
A statement from Swalwell’s office provided to Axios said: “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.”
What happened: Amid a widening counterintelligence probe, federal investigators became so alarmed by Fang’s behavior and activities that around 2015 they alerted Swalwell to their concerns — giving him what is known as a defensive briefing.
Swalwell immediately cut off all ties to Fang, according to a current U.S. intelligence official, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Fang left the country unexpectedly in mid-2015 amid the investigation. She did not respond to multiple attempts by Axios to reach her by email and Facebook.
Between the lines: The case demonstrates China’s strategy of cultivating relationships that may take years or even decades to bear fruit. The Chinese Communist Party knows that today’s mayors and city council members are tomorrow’s governors and members of Congress.
In the years since the Fang probe, the FBI has prioritized investigations into Chinese influence operations, creating a unit in May 2019 within the bureau solely dedicated to countering Beijing’s activities at the state and local levels. U.S. national security officials believe the threat posed by China has only grown with time.
“She was just one of lots of agents,” said a current senior U.S. intelligence official.
Beijing “is engaged in a highly sophisticated malign foreign influence campaign,” FBI director Chris Wray said in a July 2020 speech. These efforts involve “subversive, undeclared, criminal, or coercive attempts to sway our government’s policies, distort our country’s public discourse, and undermine confidence in our democratic processes and values,” Wray said.
The FBI declined to comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Details: Axios spoke with four current and former U.S. intelligence officials about the case over a period of more than a year. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media about the case.
Axios also spoke with 22 current and former elected officials, political operatives, and former students who knew Fang personally when she was based in the United States.
The cover: How Fang worked
Fang’s friends and acquaintances said she was in her late 20s or early 30s when she was based in the U.S. and was enrolled as a student at a Bay Area university.
She used political gatherings, civic society conferences, campaign rallies, and campus events to connect with elected officials and other prominent figures, according to U.S. intelligence officials, Bay Area political operatives, former students, and current and former elected officials who knew her.
U.S. intelligence officials believed she was overseeing likely unwitting subagents whom she helped place in local political and congressional offices.
Fang attended regional conferences for U.S. mayors, which allowed her to grow her network of politicians across the country.
She also engaged in sexual or romantic relationships with at least two mayors of Midwestern cities over a period of about three years, according to one U.S. intelligence official and one former elected official.
At least two separate sexual interactions with elected officials, including one of these Midwestern mayors, were caught on FBI electronic surveillance of Fang, according to two intelligence officials. Axios was unable to identify or speak to the elected officials.
Between 2011 and 2015, Fang’s activities brought her into contact with many of the Bay Area’s most prominent politicos.
She volunteered for Ro Khanna’s unsuccessful 2014 House bid, according to a former campus organizer and social media posts. (Khanna, a Democrat, was elected to the House in 2016.) Khanna’s office said he remembers seeing Fang at several Indian American political gatherings but did not have further contact with her. Khanna’s office said the FBI did not brief him on her activities. Khanna’s 2014 campaign staff said that Fang’s name does not appear in their staff records, though they said that their records do not include all volunteers.
Flyer for fundraiser for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Source: Facebook
Fang helped with a fundraiser for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) in 2013, according to a flyer from the event Fang shared on Facebook. She appeared in photos over multiple years with a host of California politicians, including Khanna, Swalwell, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and then-Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.).
Gabbard “has no recollection of ever meeting or talking with her, nor any recollection of her playing a major role at the fundraiser,” a spokesperson said in an email to Axios.
Fremont City Councilmember Raj Salwan, whose name appears on the flyer, told Axios he was unaware of Fang’s role in the event and her name was added to the flyer by other Asian American leaders.
Chu’s office said they have no records of Christine Fang. Honda said he had no memory of meeting Fang.
From left: Fang with Fremont City Councilmember Raj Salwan (L) and then-U.S. House candidate Ro Khanna at a September 2013 fundraiser for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; Fang helped organize a 2012 town hall for Rep. Judy Chu. Sources: Facebook
The bottom line: U.S. officials believe Fang’s real reason for being in the U.S was to gather political intelligence and to influence rising U.S. officials on China-related issues.
Close relationships between a U.S. elected official and a covert Chinese intelligence operative can provide the Chinese government with opportunities to sway the opinion of key decision-makers.
Beijing may aim to influence foreign policy issues directly related to China, or issues closer to home, such as partnering with Chinese companies for local investment — an issue particularly salient among local-level officials such as mayors and city council members.
Sounding the alarm: The U.S. response
U.S. counterintelligence officials said they believe Fang acted at the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country’s main civilian spy agency.
U.S. officials first noticed Fang through surveillance they were conducting on a different person — a suspected MSS officer working undercover as a diplomat in the San Francisco consulate, a current U.S. counterintelligence official said.
The suspected officer used the consulate as a base to do outreach to state and local-level U.S. politicians, including inviting them on trips to China, the official said.
The official added that both Fang and the suspected officer were focused on gathering political intelligence and conducting influence operations in the Bay Area. (Axios corroborated through U.S. State Department records that a Chinese diplomat with the same name as the suspected MSS officer was stationed in San Francisco during the period Fang was there.)
Fang and the suspected officer met or spoke on numerous occasions, leading U.S. officials to look into Fang’s own background and activities, the official said.
However, Fang’s main intelligence handlers were believed to be based in China, according to two U.S. officials.
Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.
Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.
Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.
Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you
and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding.Tech giants are shutting us down. You know this. Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Adsense, Pinterest permanently
banned us. Facebook, Google search et al have shadow-banned, suspended and deleted us from your news feeds.
They are disappearing us. But we are here.
Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival.
Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.
Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.
Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.
If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.
00votes
Article Rating
40 Comments
Oldest
NewestMost Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Bill
3 years ago
And there you have it, folks. Swalwell pushed the Russia thing so long and so hard (no pun intended) for his sex spy that he always came across as an idiot when on TV. So when will he quit politics? The two-tiered justice system will kick in and he won’t have to. Only the comedian Senator has resigned that I know of.
Two researchers involved in Covid analyses, Dr Wolfgang Wodarg and Dr Michael Yeadon, have issued a motion for administrative and regulatory action to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). They are concerned about the new mRNA Coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, warning that the vaccines could attack placenta cells, causing female infertility.
Feinstein’s first 3 Chinese chauffeur’s killed themselves with honor when told by the homeland to also be sex spies. Her 20-year driver was desperate for the love of a woman. Any woman. Even one as ancient and ugly as Feinstein.
So is Bill Clinton. Didn’t stop him or even slow him down. Unfaithfulness is a resumé enhancement for democRAT politicians.
Mohammed_Goldberg
3 years ago
Fang Fang, commonly referred to as “Bang, Bang, Happy Ending” in political circles, is very proficient at wriggling her fishing lure in front of male politicians, to redirect their blood flow from the upper head, to the lower head. Combined with pillow talk, she provided the Chicom Government many secrets, and compromised many federal/state elected politicians.
TARDRE
3 years ago
Isn’t Swallow the guy who crapped his pants on the news interview?
I wonder if those mid west mayors are Republicans or Democrats?
We may never know. We were never told who we paid in the D.C. sex slush fund either.
My, she was a busy beaver!
BTW this is another way communists handle the Muslim problem in China. It is not through “concentration camps” but through “vocational centers” or “training camps.” This helps to sinicize them to Chinese state approved culture and traditions.
“China’s attempt of religious sinicization is rational and lawful based on its history and national conditions,” the Times asserted. “There are various branches of Islam in the world, so there must be one fitting Chinese culture and national conditions. Chinese Muslims have made efforts in this field and they should be encouraged to carry them forward.”
.“The vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang [internment camps] are part of China’s efforts in religious sinicization. They help trainees get rid of extreme thoughts and learn to integrate into the country’s development.”
As part of their training, they forced them to abandon their faith, learn Mandarin and no longer speak their native languages, and memorize Communist Party songs praising leader Xi Jinping. Failure to comply with these demands, according to camp survivors, could lead to officials denying prisoners food or subjecting them to electroshock, beatings, and other torture. https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2019/04/08/state-media-internment-camps-creating-a-branch-of-islam-fitting-chinese-culture/
Of course some structures are “unsafe” and must come down to protect the people. Others are allowed to stand as long as they are in agreement of becoming propaganda centers. The state must be worshiped. One of the main reasons why Buddhism can survive and develop in China is its sinicization. Pope Frances has also endorsed sinicization.https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/05/24/pope-francis-entrusts-china-to-the-protection-of-virgin-mary/
Communism is a religion!
illustrate100 James
3 years ago
If you look at that womans eyes, you can see the eyes of a shark.
Usually the brain sits between the ears.
Eric the Chinese seems to be an exception.
Normally jokes with names are cheap.
Since Eric comes out being much less than just cheap, I like to give him a nickname:
Eric SWELLWELL
turkeychoker
3 years ago
kinda reminds me of Hillary having that Iranian Huma,that our press loved. Peeking over Hillary`s shoulder all the time.
Alexandra
3 years ago
I have written my State Senators and House Representative to insist that they follow up on this and if true, they remove Eric Swalwell from Congress, and particularly the House Intelligence Committee, and that he be arrested.
Stephen Honig
3 years ago
Stepping down is not enough, he should b prosecuted!
robmanzoni
3 years ago
“…A Chinese spy operating in the Bay Area during the Obama administration got so close to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) that the FBI had to intervene and provide him with a defensive briefing…”
Don’t see the FBI intervening as the Chinese cosy up to the Biden family. Perhaps they’re unaware of it – like they were unaware of Hunter’s laptop, full of Chinese evidence…
..and how long did it take for them to alert Diane Feinstein…?
Charles Martell III
3 years ago
While Swallwell was trying to convince us all he had the facts of Russia Russia Kollusion . . . .
The weak minded Congress critter was dipping his wick and being pumped by a Chinese Spy.
This idiot now sits on the Intellegance Committee . . . time to haul the wimp off to Gitmo and extract a confession.
Robert Kahlcke
3 years ago
This TRAITOR, should have been Charged, Convicted and Executed. Period
He will FOREVER be considered a TRAITOR to the United States of America.
Where are the KKK ?
Robert Kahlcke
3 years ago
Mr. President, you’re on a roll don’t stop now. Roll out the ones that will be certain to get the DEATH PENALTY.
Thank you SIR.
Merchantseamen
3 years ago
Ole Swillow was plowing that for all its worth. So…his empire just collapsed in 7 minutes or less. What got him trouble is laying there all slumped over saying…. wasn’t me it was Trumps fault.
It is the conflict of our age, yet no one dares talk about it. The true story of the Islamic Supremacist war on free speech as told by those on the front lines fighting for our First Amendment rights,
.
Pamela Geller tells her own story of how she became one of the world's foremost activists for the freedom of speech,
individual rights, and equality of rights for all. "It's my story, it's what happens when someone fights for freedom in America today,"
Geller explained.
Today Islamic supremacists are demanding more accommodation of Islamic principles
and practices than ever, and daily growing more aggressive in eroding our freedoms – with politically
correct public officials only too happy..
Popular conservative blogger Pamela Geller and New York Times bestselling author
Robert Spencer sound a wake-up call for Americans to stop the Obama administration from limiting our
hard-won...
The Ground Zero Mosque: The Second Wave of the 9/11 Attacks is a groundbreaking documentary on the controversy
over the planned Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero.
ity Councilmember Raj Salwan (L) and then-U.S. House candidate Ro Khanna at a September 2013 fundraiser for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; Fang helped organize a 2012 town hall for Rep. Judy Chu. Sources: Facebook
ity Councilmember Raj Salwan (L) and then-U.S. House candidate Ro Khanna at a September 2013 fundraiser for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; Fang helped organize a 2012 town hall for Rep. Judy Chu. Sources: Facebook
