FBI Probed Eric Swalwell Over $1.15 Million Interns-for-Cash Scheme Tied to Suspected Chinese Spy
Updated
Updated · The Bureau | Sam Cooper · Aug 17
FBI Probed Eric Swalwell Over $1.15 Million Interns-for-Cash Scheme Tied to Suspected Chinese Spy
3 articles · Updated · The Bureau | Sam Cooper · Aug 17
Summary
Newly declassified FBI files show agents opened a full public-corruption probe into then-Rep. Eric Swalwell over allegations Christine Fang traded congressional internships for campaign donations and concealed foreign money through U.S. intermediaries.
March 2015 records said Fang used conduits in at least two cases to hide herself as the prohibited foreign-national source, while agents pursued evidence for possible campaign-finance and quid pro quo charges against both Fang and Swalwell.
The codenamed Freshman Fifteen investigation reached into Swalwell’s fundraising network, which the FBI said took in $1,145,688 in individual contributions from January 2013 to December 2014.
Agents examined donors including a winery owner who said Fang promised reimbursement and a franchise magnate who said she wanted his contribution credited to her, along with a 2014 Wynn Las Vegas event involving collected checks.
The case was treated as a Sensitive Investigative Matter because it involved a sitting member of Congress, with the Northern District of California alerted and prepared to prosecute if the FBI developed sufficient evidence.