The Chinese have continued their attempts to influence political entities in the U.S., and two Democrats involved in the 2020 primary race are named in a recently published Axios report.
The yearlong investigation said a reputed member of Chinese intelligence established ties with American politicians, “including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015.”
Fang Fang, also known as Christine Fang, slept with two unidentified Midwestern mayors as part of a lengthy Chinese intelligence campaign. She also fundraised for Democratic presidential primary candidates Eric Swalwell and Tulsi Gabbard.
Axios said Fang, then under FBI investigation, went back to China in 2015 and has not returned to the U.S. since.
According to Axios, Swalwell has not been accused of wrongdoing, severing communications with Fang when he learned about her alleged connections to China.
Gabbard, through a spokesperson, denied ever meeting Fang.
Donald Trump Jr. appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show Tuesday to make a few points, saying in part, “I appreciate you calling out Eric Swalwell as somebody who was probably the number-two recipient of these tinfoil hat brigade attacks about Russia for years.”
Swalwell, a California Democrat who fought potential Russian influence operations during the Trump administration, questioned the timing of this leak, telling CNN Wednesday that “at the same time this story was being leaked out is the time that I was working on impeachment on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.”
He added that he felt public criticism of Trump led to “law enforcement information weaponized” against those people and “that’s not a country that any of us want to live in. And I hope it is investigated as to who leaked this information.”
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