Kash Patel's push against Democratic lawmaker raises concerns within FBI -- Washington Post
Full headline: Kash Patel’s push against Democratic lawmaker raises concerns within FBI
The FBI director seeks to post documents on Rep. Eric Swalwell despite no public evidence of wrongdoing, officials said.
FBI Director Kash Patel is pressing to release a decade-old investigative file involving Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, recently dispatching agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to quickly redact the files before they are released publicly despite no evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell, according to three people familiar with the effort.
The potential release is part of the Trump administration’s aggressive push to investigate Swalwell, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, according to the people familiar with the effort. It is highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges.
As FBI director, Patel has focused on trying to bring a criminal case against the outspoken Democrat, reassigning multiple agents in San Francisco to work on the matter, the current and former officials said. FBI leaders have even discussed sending agents to China to talk to the suspected intelligence operative, believing she could have damaging information about Swalwell, according to two of the people familiar with the investigation. The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation that has not been made public.
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. 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.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/28/fbi-patel-eric-swalwell/
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Of course, Patel would pull out this crap now when Swalwell is making a hard pitch for the gubernatorial nomination in California. Note that it was investigated previously and no charges were filed. Repubs never forget a potential scandal when a Democrat is involved.