Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell claimed Wednesday to be a target of his political opponents and said there was no “wrongdoing” committed in his relationship with probable Chinese spy Christine Fang.
“The people who did share classified information were the people who leaked this story,” Swalwell told CNN’s “Newsroom.”
“And to do that against a critic of the president — they may think they’re going to silence me. They are not going to silence me but what they are going to do is they are going to make others think twice when they are asked to sit down and provide defensive information about people like this.” (RELATED: Tucker Carlson: ‘Eric Swalwell … Used His Office To Promote Beijing’s Talking Points’ While Sitting On The House Intelligence Committee)
“There was never a suspicion of wrongdoing on my part and all I did was cooperate,” Swalwell said noting that the FBI learned of his connection to Fang at “the time that I was working on impeachment on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.”
U.S. intelligence officials say that Fang, an alleged Chinese spy, infiltrated the offices of multiple politicians in the San Francisco area — including Swalwell, Axios reported Monday night. Swalwell has refused to discuss whether his relationship with Fang was purely professional or not.
Fang reportedly also compromised two Midwest mayors during her time in the U.S., including having a sexual encounter with an Ohio mayor in the backseat of a car.
Swalwell told CNN that he “was shocked” when the FBI informed him that they believed Fang was engaged in espionage but said that he then “offered to help and I did help and I was thanked by the FBI for my help and that person is no longer in the country,” he said, citing Fang, who has moved back to China.
“And if this is a country where people who criticize the president are going to have law enforcement information weaponized against them, that’s not a country that any of us want to live in.”
The congressman insisted that he couldn’t “talk too much about the details of the case” even as he said that he shared no classified information with Fang. (RELATED: Report: Professor Claims That China Has Long Had ‘Old Friends Who Are The Top Of America’s Core Inner Circle’)
Then-Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during a State Luncheon for China hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry on Sept. 25, 2015 at the Department of State in Washington, DC. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
“I hope none of my colleagues ever find themselves in the position … that I found myself in by having to sit down with the FBI because someone who had helped the campaign was trying to do this,” Swalwell stated.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said Thursday that the Chinese government actively attempts to attract allies in Congress as part of a “massive” campaign to gain influence over the United States.