(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., dared President Joe Biden to make the report into the relationship between Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Chinese honeypot spy Christine Fang—also known as Fang Fang.
Banks made the request in a letter last week to the White House following Democrats complaints over Swalwell losing his seat on the House Intelligence Committee, according to Breitbart.
“If the White House’s position is correct and Rep. Swalwell’s past association with a Chinese spy does not preclude him from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, then the White House should immediately declassify its report on Rep. Swalwell,” he wrote.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has argued that Swalwell’s dalliance with Fang posed a serious security risk and that he should be prohibited from having access to highly classified security briefings.
Banks said that the White House should release the classified report on Swalwell’s relationship with the spy—if it does indeed exist—it in order to clear the representative’s name and allow him back on the committee.
“If the report proves that, as the White House is suggesting, Rep. Swalwell’s relations with Fang Fang were innocuous and do not threaten our national security, then many House Republicans, including me, would support allowing Rep. Swalwell to serve on the House Intelligence Committee,” he added.
Swalwell’s relationship with Fang is said to have started professionally, as she helped him with fundraising and hired at least one intern for his office. Fang left the country “unexpectedly” 2015; there is no recorded contact between the two after that point.
Swallwell claims his involvement with Fang did not compromise the security of the U.S. and always mentions his cooperation with the FBI’s investigation into the relationship when asked about it.
The Biden administration refused to give any opinions on the topic other than the same boilerplate objection that Swalwell—along with ousted Democrat Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota—brought “a lot to the table when it comes to foreign policy and national security.”
