Eric Swalwell’s Dad, Brother No Longer Facebook Friends with Suspected Chinese Spy

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) father and brother are no longer Facebook friends with suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang.

“Earlier Wednesday they were still friended — years after the FBI flagged her for suspicious activities and the congressman cut her off. Later in the day, following reporting on the connections, their accounts no longer appeared on her friends list,” Fox News reported Wednesday.

When she arrived in California as a college student in 2011, Fang was allegedly part of an effort to befriend and spy on lawmakers there and in other parts of the United States.

“Both Eric Swalwell Sr. and Joshua Falwell were listed as friends on her Facebook account, raising questions about how close Fang was to the congressman,” the Fox report said.

As of Thursday morning, what appears to be her Facebook profile listed 80 people as friends.

“Mayors Alan Nagy and David Haubert, of the California cities of Newark and Dublin, respectively, also appeared on Fang’s friends list early Wednesday. Neither responded to Fox News requests for comment – but both no longer appear on her friends list,” the outlet said.

According to an Axios report, the young woman had fundraised for Swalwell and placed at least one intern in his office:

Fang took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign, according to a Bay Area political operative and a current U.S. intelligence official. Swalwell’s office was directly aware of these activities on its behalf, the political operative said. That same political operative, who witnessed Fang fundraising on Swalwell’s behalf, found no evidence of illegal contributions.

Federal Election Commission records don’t indicate Fang herself made donations, which are prohibited from foreign nationals. Fang helped place at least one intern in Swalwell’s office, according to those same two people, and interacted with Swalwell at multiple events over the course of several years.

Wednesday on CNN Newsroom, Swalwell reacted to the Axios report and noted that the story was leaked while he worked to impeach President Trump.

“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. And I hope it is investigated as to who leaked this information,” he stated.

However, during an interview Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s Ingraham Angle, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Swalwell should no longer serve on the House Intelligence Committee.

“Not only should he be removed from the Intel [Committee]. He should be removed from Congress, as well,” McCarthy stated.