Eric Swalwell’s lawyers on Monday demanded that FBI Director Kash Patel immediately stop what they described as an effort to release records from a decade-old FBI investigation involving the California congressman and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative. In a cease-and-desist letter, the attorneys warned Patel that releasing the material would violate federal law and Justice Department policy, and they asked for a response within three days confirming he will comply.
The letter says Swalwell “has never been accused of wrongdoing” in the matter and argues that Patel’s attempt to release the investigative file is “a transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for Governor of California,” according to the letter’s language. The lawyers, Sean Hecker and Norm Eisen, also warned that Patel’s actions could expose him, “others at the FBI, and the FBI itself to significant legal liability,” and said disclosure of the file would “violate federal law in several respects.”
The dispute centers on records from an investigation that did not result in criminal charges. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns about Christine Fang in 2015 and briefed Congress about her, and Swalwell said he cut off contact with her at that point. The House Ethics Committee investigation that was opened in 2021 closed two years later without any action, according to the report.
The lawyers’ demand follows reporting that Patel directed agents to review and redact files from the investigation in preparation for their release, even though the attorneys said doing so would conflict with how such matters are typically handled. The Associated Press reported that Washington Post first reported Patel’s direction, and it said an FBI spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.
An FBI spokesperson had told the Post that the FBI “prepares documents for numerous different reasons.” The AP reported that the investigation involved interactions that Swalwell had with Fang, who was described as a suspected Chinese intelligence operative reported to have cultivated ties with U.S. personnel who came into contact with Swalwell’s campaign during his early runs for Congress, including fundraising for his 2014 campaign.
Swalwell is running for governor in California and has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, the AP reported. The report also said Swalwell served as one of the House managers in the second of two impeachments of Trump during the Republican’s first term, and that he has openly clashed with Patel, who named Swalwell and dozens of other perceived adversaries of Trump in a 2023 book titled “Government Gangsters.”