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Can we talk about Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA)


Gil Bang

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So, WTF is the deal with this guy?

Here's my understanding (and there's a good chance that I'm uninformed):

He was getting some Chinese pussy.  The FBI contacted him and said "dude, she's a honeypot", so he quit fucking her and cooperated with the FBI.  Is there more to the story than this?

He's a favorite whipping boy by the likes of Sporkfoot and Don Jr.  

Meanwhile, Swalwell's twitter game is pretty solid.

 

 

 

 

 

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Rep. Eric Swalwell told CNN Wednesday that he was “shocked” when the FBI informed him several years ago that he was targeted by a suspected Chinese intelligence operative as part of a broader effort to establish ties with US politicians, reiterating that he immediately cooperated with federal investigators who were looking into the individual in question.

Swalwell was named in an Axios report detailing what US officials believed to be a political intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015.

The woman at the center of the operation, Fang Fang or Christine Fang, took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and helped place an intern in the California Democrat’s office, according to Axios.

But as stated in the initial report, Swalwell was never suspected of any wrongdoing, a point he reiterated to CNN on Wednesday.

“I was told about this individual and I offered to help,” he told CNN’s Jim Sciutto. “All I did was cooperate and the FBI said that yesterday.”

Swalwell, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee and was very vocal during President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings last year, also questioned the timing of the story considering the probe took place several years ago, raising the possibility that it was leaked to harm him politically.

“At the same time this story was being leaked out is the time that I was working on impeachment on the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees,” he said, referring to the fact that the Axios report was produced after a year-long investigation.

“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. I hope it is investigated who leaked this information,” Swalwell added.

The Axios report comes after Trump’s top politically appointed intelligence official, John Ratcliffe, issued a stark warning last week that China is preparing for “an open-ended period of confrontation with the US,” urging bipartisan action to address “the greatest threat to America today” and to “democracy around the world since World War II.”

Ratcliffe also charged in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that China targeted several dozen members of Congress and congressional aides in a massive influence campaign this year but did not name individual lawmakers.

Specifically, Ratcliffe said that the Chinese government “engaged in a massive influence campaign that included targeting several dozen members of Congress and congressional aides” over the last year – arguing that Beijing’s efforts dwarfed those of other foreign adversaries and rivals, including Russia.

While the precise details of this influence campaign remain highly classified, a senior national security official told CNN that the Chinese government used a variety of tactics, including attempted bribery and blackmail.

“Our intelligence shows that Beijing regularly directs this type of influence operation in the U.S. I briefed the House and Senate Intelligence committees that China is targeting members of Congress with six times the frequency of Russia and 12 times the frequency of Iran,” Ratcliffe wrote.

Pressed Wednesday on the Axios report and whether he was concerned that he may have shared sensitive information with the suspected Chinese spy before being notified by the FBI, Swalwell said, “I know that I didn’t.”

“The Axios story made clear that no information was ever shared,” he said. “The people who did share classified information were the people who leaked this story.”

In addition to Fang’s ties to Swalwell, Axios reported that she sought to establish relationships with influential politicians through “campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors.”

On Wednesday, Swalwell characterized China’s broader espionage efforts as “persistent” but cautioned against stereotyping people as spies.

“We need to invest more in our intelligence resources so we don’t have people who can successfully do this. Thankfully in this case, because of the FBI, nothing happened,” he sa

Specifically, Ratcliffe said that the Chinese government “engaged in a massive influence campaign that included targeting several dozen members of Congress and congressional aides” over the last year – arguing that Beijing’s efforts dwarfed those of other foreign adversaries and rivals, including Russia.

While the precise details of this influence campaign remain highly classified, a senior national security official told CNN that the Chinese government used a variety of tactics, including attempted bribery and blackmail.

“Our intelligence shows that Beijing regularly directs this type of influence operation in the U.S. I briefed the House and Senate Intelligence committees that China is targeting members of Congress with six times the frequency of Russia and 12 times the frequency of Iran,” Ratcliffe wrote.

Pressed Wednesday on the Axios report and whether he was concerned that he may have shared sensitive information with the suspected Chinese spy before being notified by the FBI, Swalwell said, “I know that I didn’t.”

“The Axios story made clear that no information was ever shared,” he said. “The people who did share classified information were the people who leaked this story.”

In addition to Fang’s ties to Swalwell, Axios reported that she sought to establish relationships with influential politicians through “campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors.”

On Wednesday, Swalwell characterized China’s broader espionage efforts as “persistent” but cautioned against stereotyping people as spies.

“We need to invest more in our intelligence resources so we don’t have people who can successfully do this. Thankfully in this case, because of the FBI, nothing happened,” he said.

 
 
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ah ok, so he was likely to very likely targeted in a Chinese intelligence operation, him banging the spy isn't really part of the story, but that's what the right wing media/political machine is saying.

he's a politician, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if something like that was true, but one reliable thing about republicans is a complete lack of integrity so I'll wait for some facts.

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She saved her best look for Don, Jr. (not really, she's a fucking goblin).

Best Martina is with LaPierre and Santino or whatever his name is.  She looks like someone you'd meet at a wedding - maybe a bridesmaid - and is reasonably bangable in those pix.

Back in the good old days a Russian spy would be wearing Eau de Rycine perfume behind her ears and all these douches would be dead.  Imagine the world now without them.  Fuck, now I'm depressed.

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I am pretty sure he was in between marriages when he was involved with the spy. It’s an interesting story, he was far from the only person targeted by her, and not the only one she slept with. 
 

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Fang attended conferences for mayorsaround the U.S., according to three U.S. intelligence officials, as well as numerous current and former politicians who knew her. 

Why it matters: By attending conferences for local officials, Fang went to extraordinary lengths to meet and befriend U.S. politicians, ostensibly as part of her activities as a Chinese agent, U.S. officials believe.

Details: Fang engaged in sexual or romantic relationships with at least two mayors of Midwestern cities, said one U.S. intelligence official and one former elected official.

At a 2014 conference in Washington, an older Midwestern mayor "from an obscure city" referred to Fang as his "girlfriend" and insisted the relationship was genuine despite the clear age difference between Fang and himself, according to former Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong, who was directly present for the conversation.

Fang also had a sexual encounter with an Ohio mayor in a car that was under electronic FBI surveillance, said one current U.S. official. When the mayor asked why Fang was interested in him, Fang told him she wanted to improve her English, the same official said. 

 

The Chinese are sophisticated. They are extremely adept at working through their citizens overseas as well as the job-citizen diaspora, and in the U.S. they are really effective at deflecting security concerns by pointing at (often very real) racism to get people to shut up.  The problem is that many of these political advocacy groups are compromised. 
 

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In 2011, Fang enrolled as a student at California State University East Bay, where she served as the president of the school's Chinese Student Association and president of the campus chapter of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA), a national organization that encourages Asian Americans to get involved in civic affairs.

She used those positions as her initial platform to gain access to political circles. She frequently invited political figures, business executives, and Chinese consular officials to attend the flurry of high-profile events she organized over a period of several years, according to current and former local officials, former students, Bay Area politicos, and social media activity. 

Fang's first known contact with numerous politicians, including Swalwell, Harrison, Chu, and then-candidate Khanna was through her role as president of these organizations.

Fang received a campus pride award for the work she did on behalf of the Chinese Student Association during the 2012–2013 academic year.

It should have raised red flags that she was both the president of the Chinese Student Association and an association that represents Asian-Americans— one group is clearly foreign and the second is for Americans. 
 

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The Bay Area offers ideal conditions for a foreign intelligence operative aiming to identify and target ambitious local politicians with national aspirations.

The big picture: Some of America’s most powerful politicians got their start in Bay Area politics, and China recognizes California’s importance. The MSS has a unit dedicated solely to political intelligence and influence operations in California. 

Silicon Valley is also the world’s most important center for the technology industry, making it a hotbed for Chinese economic espionage. Russian intelligence has also long targeted the Bay Area.

California's economy is the largest of all the U.S. states, giving California state lawmakers significant influence over national trends. 

Democrats dominate the Bay Area, from mayors to its numerous U.S. congressional districts, and anyone seeking proximity to power needs to be in their political circles. 

Context: The FBI’s extensive surveillance of left-wing political groups in the 1960s and 1970s has created a lingering distrust of the bureau that still exists today in Bay Area politics.

The Bay Area has one of the largest and oldest Chinese American communities in the country. Keeping tabs on Chinese diaspora communities is a top priority of China’s intelligence services, U.S. officials said. 

China's spy services want to influence these communities to become more predisposed to the regime, as well as surveil and stamp out potential organized opposition to the Communist Party.

Access to local political offices can give Beijing’s intelligence operatives opportunities to collect information on communities of Chinese descent in the United States. 

A high-profile example of this occurred in the 2000s, when China’s Ministry of State Security allegedly recruited a San Francisco-based staffer in Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office. This person, who was fired when the FBI alerted Feinstein to his activities, was responsible for liaising with the local Chinese community. 

What’s at stake: Chinese Americans find themselves in a difficult position in 2020, being squeezed both by influence campaigns from the Chinese government and a rise in anti-Chinese racism in the United States.

https://www.axios.com/2020/12/08/china-spy-california-politicians
 

Long story short, the GOP attacks on Swalwell are mostly bullshit but concerns over how the PRC can exploit domestic sensitivities and the Chinese diaspora are very real. 

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There absolutely should be a political consequence for getting honeypotted by a Chinese spy.  Just like there should have been a political consequence for leaving the intern you are having an affair with drowning in the car you just drunk drove off a bridge.  Yet here we are.

 

Those tweets and responses are objectively funny.  Pot shot Twitter gotchas are not what I want politicians focusing on. Yet here we are.

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1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

There absolutely should be a political consequence for getting honeypotted by a Chinese spy.  Just like there should have been a political consequence for leaving the intern you are having an affair with drowning in the car you just drunk drove off a bridge.  Yet here we are.

 

Those tweets and responses are objectively funny.  Pot shot Twitter gotchas are not what I want politicians focusing on. Yet here we are.

Why should someone deserve consequences and be booted from the house intelligence committee for being targeted?  
 

Isn’t it possible for anyone to be targeted? Should we give our adversaries total control of who is on that committee? They can just target anyone they don’t want it and then not target those they do.

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5 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

It should have raised red flags that she was both the president of the Chinese Student Association and an association that represents Asian-Americans— one group is clearly foreign and the second is for Americans. 

The CSA is dominated by American citizens of Chinese descent, who will dwarf the number of actual foreign Chinese students at any university in CA. 

The bigger red flag would be a foreign CSA president of a third tier state university hobnobbing with influential Bay Area politicians. 

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51 minutes ago, GW Hayduke said:

Why should someone deserve consequences and be booted from the house intelligence committee for being targeted?  
 

Isn’t it possible for anyone to be targeted? Should we give our adversaries total control of who is on that committee? They can just target anyone they don’t want it and then not target those they do.

I don’t think the current state of affairs in congress with regards to removal from committees is sustainable.  It will get worse before it gets better.

Swalwells political accountability should be to his constituents and his party.  
 

An effective opponent in his district should be able to use  the Fang Fang situation against him pretty effectively 

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1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

I don’t think the current state of affairs in congress with regards to removal from committees is sustainable.  It will get worse before it gets better.

Swalwells political accountability should be to his constituents and his party.  
 

An effective opponent in his district should be able to use  the Fang Fang situation against him pretty effectively 

You still seem to be assuming that he should face consequences just for being targeted.  Just because Trump, Trump Jr., and McCarthy say Swalwell acted inappropriate, doesn’t mean he actually did.  Just like we shouldn’t kick reps from committees just because they are targeted by our adversaries, we also shouldn’t expect our political process to remove them either. 

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Anybody who's never banged a foreign spy needs to turn in their 007 badge.

I personally appreciate Swalwell taking the time to hound vicious snow monkey Mo Brooks with a vengeful tenacity that as an Alabamian I admire. Hope he keeps it up as a hobby until Mo is stomped into a mudhole and maybe does a little time. Too much to hope, but I'll hope it, and in any case it's fun to watch. Thanks, Eric.

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13 minutes ago, StassneyHorn said:

No it isn’t 

I'm pretty sure Incredulity is using an actual photo of himself as his avatar.

He's free associating at this point.  Chappaquick!  Bengazi! Honeypots!  Consequences!  Meanwhile, everyone he loves sold this country for 40 pieces of silver.

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2 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I'm pretty sure Incredulity is using an actual photo of himself as his avatar.

He's free associating at this point.  Chappaquick!  Bengazi! Honeypots!  Consequences!  Meanwhile, everyone he loves sold this country for 40 pieces of silver.

I actually saw someone drop a Chappaquidick reference in the comments below a sports article just yesterday, so it apparently made some sort of right-wing talking points memo recently.

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12 hours ago, Incredulity said:

There absolutely should be a political consequence for getting honeypotted by a Chinese spy.  Just like there should have been a political consequence for leaving the intern you are having an affair with drowning in the car you just drunk drove off a bridge.  Yet here we are.

There absolutely should be message board consequences for starting hyperbolic freak-out threads and pissing your pants in fear of OMG RIOTS!!! every time a few kids throw a rock through a window. Yet here you still are. 

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