Raskin rips Patel over reported plan to release decade-old Swalwell files

Source: The Hill

03/30/26 5:56 PM ET


Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Saturday slammed FBI Director Kash Patel for reportedly pushing to release files related to Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) interactions with a suspected Chinese spy.

“The FBI is attempting to smear a sitting U.S. Congressman, candidate for governor, and vocal opponent of the president,” Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a release. “What the hell does that have to do with law enforcement? This is plain weaponization of the FBI for partisan political purposes.”

The New York Times and Washington Post reported Saturday that Patel has pushed FBI agents to gather documents on the relationship between Swalwell and Christina Fang, a Chinese woman also known as Fang Fang. Fang reportedly helped Swalwell with fundraising for his 2014 reelection campaign and placed an intern in his congressional office. Swalwell cut ties with Fang in 2015 after he was briefed by U.S. intelligence officials on their concerns with her.

While a two-year probe by the Republican-led House Ethics Committee that concluded in 2023 found that Swalwell “may have violated House Rules, law, or other standards of conduct,” the panel did not take further action on the matter. Raskin wrote that by pushing to release files related to Swalwell and Fang’s interactions, Patel is “wasting the resources of the FBI and perhaps violating the Hatch Act by ordering agents to spend hours preparing a political smear file” as part of a vendetta.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5807934-jamie-raskin-kash-patel-fbi-eric-swalwell/