Newly declassified FBI records are putting fresh scrutiny on Christine Fang, the Chinese national publicly linked for years to former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.
According to a Just the News investigation cited by Headline USA, the records indicate FBI agents tried to develop Fang, also known as Fang Fang, as an informant before later opening a criminal investigation connected to alleged foreign influence and campaign donations.
Informant effort came first, report says
Just the News reported that before the criminal probe began, the FBI spent months trying to turn Fang into an informant under the code name “Rusty Thumbs.”
One memo cited by the outlet said investigators believed “RT may be able to report on MSS influence campaigns directed at the U.S. government.” The same reporting said investigators identified Fang’s parents as “known MSS intelligence officers,” referring to China’s Ministry of State Security.
The files were released Monday after President Donald Trump ordered their declassification through the White House Government Transparency Task Force, according to the source report.
Probe examined alleged donation conduits
Just the News reported that the FBI opened a formal predicated investigation on March 17, 2014, under the code name “Freshman Fifteen.” The investigation initially examined whether Swalwell traded internship slots for campaign donations allegedly routed through other people by Fang.
According to the outlet, agents wrote that “Fang used conduits to conceal herself as a prohibited Foreign National source” on multiple occasions in 2013 and 2014.
The report said investigators later dropped Swalwell as a subject in 2017 and pursued Fang alone over alleged straw donations. Prosecutors ultimately did not charge Fang, according to the source account.
Swalwell described relationship to agents
Interview summaries reviewed by Just the News reportedly state that Swalwell told agents in 2015 he had “physical relations with Fang” repeatedly. He also allegedly described an incident in which Fang arrived unannounced before they “hooked up.”
Swalwell also told agents that his office viewed Fang’s intern referrals as coming from a legitimate Asian American civic group, according to the report.
The outlet reported that one FBI confidential source said Fang directed the source to contribute $1,000 toward a Swalwell fundraiser. A separate financial backer told agents Fang offered to reimburse him for a donation, according to the memos described in the report.
No charges, and a fight over release
Just the News reported that the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, then under Jack Smith, received regular updates on the case. Fang reportedly left for China in 2015 as agents searched her home and questioned people around her.
Swalwell has long maintained that he cooperated fully after the FBI approached him about the relationship.
Earlier this year, Swalwell’s attorneys tried to block release of the files, according to Just the News. In a cease-and-desist letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, they warned that “your actions threaten to expose you, others at the FBI, and the FBI itself to significant legal liability,” the outlet reported.
The declassified files were published by Just the News, though the claims and summaries should be reviewed directly by editors before publication.
