Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said this week that it would not surprise him if Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was not the only lawmaker compromised by the Chinese government.
Axios reported last week that Swalwell had alarmingly close ties to an alleged Chinese ‘honey trap’ spy, Christine Fang, for several years.
In fact, Fang got so close to Swalwell that federal investigators had to step in and warn the congressman that he was involved with a foreign adversary.
Swalwell reportedly cut off ties with Fang afterwards, but Johnson argued that Swalwell’s connection to Fang is still a problem.
“I mean, let’s face it, this looks like a long-term grooming process of congressman Swalwell,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner. “It just didn’t just happen overnight. This was a long-term process identifying somebody.”
This is how Chinese espionage works, Johnson continued.
“The Chinese are very long-term thinking, very strategic, very smart, and very effective … Who knows who else they kind of groomed for your ever-growing powerful positions? You see what they did with congressman Swalwell. I would be shocked if that’s the only case,” he said.
Johnson isn’t the only congressman concerned about the Chinese Communist Party’s influence.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, cited a recent report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warning the federal government about the threat of Chinese infiltration into the U.S. government.
The CCP tries “to get close to members and to influence them on Beijing’s agenda,” he told the Washington Examiner.
“And so, it’s not a surprise to see that happen,” Cornyn continued. “Hopefully, we can raise the awareness so more people can be diligent about any of those sorts of encounters because I think they happen when people let their guard down and they don’t understand the nature of the threats.”
