Kash Patel’s Push To Investigate Trump Foe Despite Lack of Evidence Has ‘Raised Alarms’ at FBI: WaPo

Associated Press

FBI Director Kash Patel’s push to investigate Trump foe Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) despite a lack of evidence has “raised alarms” among colleagues at the FBI, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

Swalwell has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, and is running to succeed Gavin Newsom (D) as California’s next governor.

According to The Post, Patel is “pressing to release a decade-old investigative file” involving Swalwell “and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative” despite a dearth of evidence against Swalwell.

“The Chinese woman at issue is Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, who reportedly courted Swalwell and other California politicians in the United States from 2011 to 2015,” the report said, continuing:

She helped with fundraising for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and even helped place an intern in his congressional office. When federal agents conveyed their concerns about Fang to Swalwell around 2015, he reportedly cut off ties with her and said he helped investigators.

Swalwell was not accused of any wrongdoing when the FBI investigated his relationship with Fang a decade ago. In 2023, the Republican-led House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into the congressman, deciding to “take no further action.”

The report called Patel’s insistence on releasing case files that never led to criminal charges, “highly unusual.”

“Even if there is no incriminating evidence in the files, an extensive case file could contain revealing and personal details about Swalwell and his campaign operations,” the report said, adding, “The lengths that Patel’s circle is going to in the bid to pursue a political foe of the president has raised alarms within the bureau, where some officials fear that releasing the files — even with redactions — could compromise law enforcement sources and investigatory methods, making it harder for the FBI to gain trust with potential witnesses.”

In an interview with the Sources Say podcast this week, Swalwell said, “The air was cleared immediately by the FBI when there was even a suggestion of wrongdoing.”

“Independent folks have said enough on this, and for me, defamation is the highest form of flattery,” Swalwell said, calling the innuendos “lies and bullshit.”

“The FBI put out two statements … saying, ‘all he did was help us when we identified somebody who might not be who they are presenting themselves as,’” Swalwell told the podcast.

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