As if the age of the spy movie hasn’t taught us enough about the potential for espionage, it seems that at least one self-aggrandizing California Democrat seems to have gotten himself tangled up (literally and politically) with a Chinese spy.
The Democrat in question is California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was discovered to be in an intimate, long-term relationship with an asset for the Chinese government
How could such a thing happen, one might ask? That’s just the question that GOP Sen. Rand Paul decided to address on Wednesday during a recent interview.
While speaking with Fox News’ Sandra Smith, Paul said it’s his opinion that Swalwell should resign from Congress following the news of his embarrassing, and potentially nationally dangerous, mistake
“I think, to be careful and to [be] cautious, he should actually resign from the intelligence committee,” Paul said when Smith asked if Swalwell should step down from his position given he has access to classified information.
While the idea of a spy having access to a congressman at all is more than a little scary and offputting to the people not sitting in cushy jobs in Washington, it’s even more alarming when one realizes that Swalwell was likely targeted because of his position in the intelligence committee.
“If he’s not willing to do that, he should be removed from the intelligence committee,” Paul continued. “But I also think that — what hypocrisy! This is a guy who was hurling stones and accusations, all kinds of false accusations at President Trump. ‘Oh, he’s controlled by spies,’ and this and that. He was the most over-the-top critic of President Trump on Russia collusion, and it turns out he’s sleeping with a Chinese spy.”
“I mean, my goodness, the hypocrisy! It’s appalling, and he really should be red-faced and ashamed of himself, and really probably ought to just resign from Congress,” Paul added.
News Swalwell’s relationship with the spy broke last week, in a report from Axios where they alleged that a Chinese Ministry of State Security operative named Christine Fang had a relationship with Swalwell that U.S. intelligence officials believe was intimate in nature.
In their report, Axios stated, “Through campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors, Fang was able to gain proximity to political power, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials and one former elected official.”
Paul isn’t alone in his concern, however. Seventeen Republicans wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, asking her to, at a minimum, remove Swalwell from the intelligence committee, pronto.
“We write to you today out of concern with Congressman Eric Swalwell’s reported, close contacts with a Chinese Communist Party spy recently reported by Axios,” the letter began. “Because of Rep. Swalwell’s position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, his close interactions with Chinese intelligence services, however unintentional they may be, are an unacceptable national security risk.”
“Obviously, Rep. Swalwell’s interactions with a Chinese spy were more dangerous and unusual than AG Sessions’ meetings with a Russian diplomat,” the letter continued. “But to make matters worse, Rep. Swalwell kept this information to himself while repeatedly using his position on [the Intelligence Committee] to peddle damaging and baseless conspiracies about President Donald Trump’s unproven ties to Russia for years and still refuses to comment fully on the extent and nature of his relationship with the Chinese Communist Party spy exposed in Axios’ bombshell report.”
The lawmakers asked that Pelosi work “to immediately remove Rep. Swalwell from his position on the House Intelligence Committee,” in an effort to shield the United States from further potential harm.
