A congressman who spent six months publicly demanding the FBI release classified files on Jeffrey Epstein just sent the FBI a cease-and-desist letter demanding they NOT release classified files. His classified files. The ones about a Chinese spy he may or may not have been sleeping with.
You really cannot make this stuff up. Eric Swalwell, ladies and gentlemen — the man who put the “well” in “Swalwell, this is awkward.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) fired off a legal threat to FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday, warning him not to release investigative documents related to Christine Fang — better known as “Fang Fang” — a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who spent years cozying up to California Democrats. Swalwell’s lawyers called the potential release “a transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for governor of California.”
Governor of California. That’s right — the guy who can’t explain why a suspected Chinese spy was fundraising for his 2014 re-election campaign and placing interns in his congressional office now wants to run the largest state in the country. Because if there’s one thing California needs, it’s a governor with even more foreign entanglements than Gavin Newsom’s hair gel budget.
Here’s where the hypocrisy gets so thick you could spread it on toast.
On September 25, 2025, Swalwell publicly demanded Patel answer: “Where are the Epstein Files?” He posted it on social media. Big and bold. Mr. Transparency.
On October 7, he did it again. “Where are the Epstein Files?”
Then on October 17, he went nuclear — calling Speaker Mike Johnson “the pro-pedophile Speaker” for not pushing the Epstein files harder. His exact words: “I refer to Johnson by his more accurate description, the pro-pedophile Speaker. Release the Epstein Files. Open the Government.”
Pro-pedophile Speaker. That’s what he called Johnson for not releasing classified files fast enough.
And now? Now Swalwell’s own lawyers are threatening “significant legal liability” against the FBI, Patel, and anyone else who dares release Swalwell’s classified files. The same FBI. The same type of files. The only difference is whose name is on the folder.
Let’s talk about what’s actually in that folder.
Christine Fang was a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who embedded herself with up-and-coming California politicians starting around 2011. She helped fundraise for Swalwell. She placed at least one intern in his office. She cultivated relationships with multiple elected officials as part of what intelligence agencies described as a broad Chinese espionage operation targeting American politics.
Swalwell has never definitively denied having a sexual relationship with her. (He says he cut off contact after the FBI briefed him in 2015, which is the political equivalent of saying you stopped robbing banks after the cops showed up.)
The Washington Post reported that Patel has deployed FBI agents to California to review the documents ahead of a potential public release. Swalwell’s legal team responded with the cease-and-desist, warning that releasing the files would “expose you, others at the FBI, and the FBI itself to significant legal liability.”
Interesting legal theory. “You can’t release evidence about me because I’ll sue you” is certainly a creative approach to transparency. Somebody should ask Swalwell whether that logic also applied to the Epstein files he spent half a year demanding.
The House Ethics Committee looked into Swalwell’s Fang Fang situation and closed its investigation in 2023 without accusing him of any violations. The Justice Department never filed charges either. Swalwell and his supporters point to this as proof of innocence.
But here’s the thing — if there’s nothing in those files, why send a cease-and-desist? If the investigation cleared you, wouldn’t you want the files released? Wouldn’t you be demanding they come out, the way you demanded the Epstein files come out? “Release the Swalwell Files! Open the Government!” We’re still waiting on that post.
There’s a pattern here that goes beyond one congressman’s embarrassing entanglement with a Chinese spy. We watched Democrats spend four years demanding Trump’s tax returns, Trump’s phone calls, Trump’s classified documents — release everything, let the public see it all, transparency is sacred. The second the spotlight swings back to their side? Lawyers. Cease-and-desist letters. Claims of “smear campaigns.” Threats of lawsuits.
Transparency, it turns out, is only a principle when you’re looking through someone else’s window.
Swalwell is now running for governor of California, which makes a certain kind of sense. The state that can’t keep its electricity running, its forests from burning, or its cities from collapsing is about to consider handing the keys to a man whose most notable professional relationship was with a woman working for Chinese intelligence. At this rate, Beijing won’t need to spy on Sacramento. They’ll have a direct line.
Keep an eye on this one. If Patel releases those files — and it looks like he’s going to — Swalwell’s legal threat becomes the biggest tell in politics. Innocent people don’t threaten to sue the FBI for releasing evidence of their innocence. They hold a press conference. Swalwell held a press conference demanding Epstein’s files. He hired a lawyer to bury his own.
That’s all you need to know.
