Rep. Eric Swalwell sends cease-and-desist letter to FBI director

Source: msn/Washington Post

10h


Attorneys for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) demanded Monday in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that the bureau refrain from releasing decade-old investigative files involving the congressman’s purported ties to a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.

The congressman called for the FBI to agree within three days not to release the files, adding that any further action to release them could prompt him to take legal action. The cease-and-desist letter followed a report from The Washington Post over the weekend that Patel had dispatched agents to review and redact the files in a potential move to ready them for a public release.

Swalwell was not accused of any wrongdoing when the FBI investigated him and the suspected spy, Christine Fang, a decade ago. Swalwell’s congressional office said it had immediately cut ties with Fang when federal agents informed him in 2015 that they were concerned she might be an intelligence operative. More recently, the Republican-led House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into the congressman in 2023 without taking any action.

Swalwell’s attorneys said in their letter that there was no justification for releasing the files, especially since the congressman had assisted the FBI in its investigation. “The congressman has never been accused of wrongdoing in that matter and your attempt to release the file is a transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for governor of California,” the letter said. “Your actions threaten to expose you, others at the FBI, and the FBI itself to significant legal liability.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rep-eric-swalwell-sends-cease-and-desist-letter-to-fbi-director/ar-AA1ZLI8j

Trump doesn’t get to choose who the next Governor is, Californians do. And WE WILL WIN.

— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell.bsky.social) 2026-03-31T00:25:27.582Z