(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) California gubernatorial candidate and Rep. Eric Swalwell has received thousands of dollars from Keliang “Clay” Zhu, a Chinese American lawyer with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, according to a recent report.
Zhu is a top attorney at DeHeng Law Offices, a major Beijing-based firm with “deep ties” to the CCP, according to Fox News. He appears to be the sole attorney in the law firm’s Silicon Valley office.
Fox News reports that DeHeng Law was founded in the 1990s as “China Law Office,” a subsidiary of the CCP’s Ministry of Justice, before adopting its current name in 1995.
Swalwell’s campaign for governor accepted $25,000 from Zhu in February, in addition to $5,000 in November and more than $10,000 previously donated to his congressional campaigns, according to Fox News.
Michael Lucci, a China expert and founder of State Armor Action, said Swalwell “got caught with his hand in the CCP cookie jar,” referring to Zhu’s donations.
“It’s simply outrageous that Congressman Swalwell would take even more money from Keliang Zhu after Zhu’s connections to the CCP were made public,” Lucci added.
🚨 Rep. Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign has accepted $25K more from Keliang “Clay” Zhu — a partner at Beijing-linked DeHeng Law with deep connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
Zhu previously gave $5,000 to Swalwell’s campaign in November.https://t.co/Le6OP9ts7D pic.twitter.com/l4qjKo16D0
— State Armor (@StateArmor) February 27, 2026
Fox News noted that DeHeng and its attorneys “continue to have longstanding cooperation with the Chinese government’s departments and major state-owned enterprises.”
Zhu, for example, touts helping a “major state-owned enterprise in acquiring majority shares in one data analytics software company in the Silicon Valley.” He said this was worth more than $100 million.
He also represented a Singapore subsidiary of a state-owned enterprise in acquiring a Texas “shale oil technology company” for more than $100 million, and represented major state-owned banks “in debt collection and foreign judgment enforcement cases in the U.S.”
Additionally, he highlighted assisting CCP-linked WeChat in winning a lawsuit against President Donald Trump in 2020.
In 2024, Zhu criticized Florida legislation banning Chinese nationals from owning or leasing property, calling the law “unfair, unconstitutional, and un-American” after an appeals court blocked the bill.
Headline USA reached out to Zhu via email past midnight but had not received a response by publication time.
Swalwell has also faced scrutiny over his past relationship with Christine Fang, also known as “Fang Fang,” a Chinese national who U.S. intelligence officials reportedly believed was a Chinese spy.
