Swalwell accuses Trump of trying to influence California governor’s race with old FBI files

Rep. Eric Swalwell, the leading Democratic candidate for California governor, accused President Trump of trying to influence the election following reports that FBI Director Kash Patel may release documents from a decade-old investigation into the congressman’s ties to a suspected Chinese spy.

Patel ordered agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to redact the case files for public release. A report from the Washington Post, It’s a highly unusual move by the FBI to release case files related to an investigation that did not result in criminal charges.

The investigation focused on Swalwell’s ties to a suspected intelligence agent named Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, who was volunteering money for her congressional campaign. Swalwell cut ties with Fang in 2015 after intelligence officials briefed him and other members of Congress on China’s efforts to infiltrate the legislature.

Swalwell, a frontrunner among a growing number of California gubernatorial candidates, has not been accused of impropriety.

The White House referred questions to the FBI and the Justice Department but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We are at war. Gas prices are rising. And threats to the homeland are increasing. But instead of focusing on the issues that matter most to this country, Donald Trump and Kash Patel have decided to continue their revenge tour and interfere in the election for Governor of California,” Swalwell told The Times on Sunday. “They believe they will find a maid in Sacramento.”

Swalwell said he hasn’t been contacted by the FBI, but “considering how they have been selectively releasing or not releasing files lately, I don’t trust them one bit. This case is closed.”

Swalwell accused Trump of trying “desperately” to stop him because he was now the preferred candidate for governor of California. Swalwell and former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter are tied as the top Democratic candidate, according to a poll released earlier this month by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times.

“What Trump wants most is to have a Western White House. He is a facilitating force on the opposite coast,” he said. “A lot of people have bent the knee to this administration. But I won’t. And neither will the people of California.”

It’s not the first time Swalwell has accused the administration of targeting Trump’s political rivals.

Last year, Swalwell sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, accusing him of criminal misuse of government databases to target Trump’s political rivals. Pulte had accused Swalwell of mortgage fraud and referred him to the Justice Department for a potential federal criminal investigation. Swalwell dropped that dress this month.

Swalwell, a former prosecutor who ran for president in 2020, announced his candidacy for governor of California in November. Swalwell said his decision was motivated by the serious issues facing California and the threats Trump poses to the state and nation while in the White House.

On Sunday, Swalwell received the endorsement of the California Teachers Assn., a powerful force in the state’s Democratic politics.

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who supports Swalwell for governor, shared the Washington Post report on Saturday, saying, “This FBI abuse is as dangerous as it is illegal.” Schiff served with Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee, where they angered Republicans by investigating President Trump during his first term.

Schiff served as the lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment, and Swalwell served as the lead manager of Trump’s second impeachment.

“The President and his appointees have repeatedly used the Justice Department as a weapon against those who dare to oppose Trump,” Schiff wrote. He added that there is no doubt that Trump and Patel “will do whatever they can to tell Californians who their next governor should be.”

The Post’s story prompted a barrage of criticism from California politicians, including Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), a member of the House Intelligence Committee. in xGomez accused Patel of “wasting resources” on a decade-old closed case in which “Svalwell cooperated with the FBI and was found innocent of any wrongdoing.”

“Reopening it now, just as we are ahead in the polls and the ballots are about to drop, is a political assassination!” Gomez said. “Trump and Kash Patel are using the FBI as a weapon against those they see as political enemies.”

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, issued a statement accusing Patel of working “at the behest of the White House” and “wasting the FBI’s resources and perhaps violating the Hatch Act by ordering agents to spend hours preparing a political smear dossier for the personnel case.”

Fang contacted Swalwell’s campaign when he was first running for Congress in 2012. She also participated in fundraising for Swalwell’s 2014 campaign and helped place an intern in his office. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to concerns about Fang in 2015 and briefed Congress; At that point, the California Democrat said she cut off contact with him.

In 2023, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blocked Swalwell from continuing to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence because of his past connection to an alleged spy. That same year, the House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into allegations of Swalwell’s connection to Fang.

In closing the investigation, the ethics committee wrote in a letter to Swalwell that it had “previously reviewed allegations of undue influence by foreign agents and, in doing so, cautioned that Members should be cognizant of the possibility that foreign governments may seek to exert undue influence through gifts and other interactions.”

After the investigation was closed, Swalwell released a statement saying he had assisted the FBI in its counterintelligence investigation of Fang.

“This complaint was filed by a House Republican, even though the FBI has repeatedly said I was just helpful and was never accused of anything wrong,” he said. “It’s time to move on.”

“If the purpose of making this complaint and spreading false slander is to silence me, it will not happen,” he added.

Swalwell said in an interview with The Times in November, a day before he announced he was running for governor, that the FBI and the House Ethics Committee had previously cleared him.

“The FBI said: ‘By the way, he was always cooperative, as if he had done nothing wrong.’ Additionally, the House Ethics Committee, which McCarthy chairs, said: ‘He did nothing wrong.’ So, you know, I can’t say anything better than what Kevin McCarthy’s ethics committee said. But I understand why they see me as the bad guy. And follow me, that’s okay.

On Saturday, Swalwell’s campaign team sent an email citing “explosive new news” and asking for donations to help “fight back.”

Times writer Kevin Rector contributed to this report.