Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell suggested late Tuesday that the explosive revelations reported on Tuesday regarding his dalliances with a suspected Chinese “honey pot” spy are part of a conspiracy by the Trump administration, in retaliation for him repeatedly attacking President Trump over evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The alleged spy, Christine Fang, “targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country who had the potential to make it big on the national stage” through “campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships,” as reported by Axios. “Even though U.S. officials do not believe Fang received or passed on classified information, the case ‘was a big deal, because there were some really, really sensitive people that were caught up’ in the intelligence network, a current senior U.S. intelligence official said.” 

“Amid a widening counterintelligence probe, federal investigators became so alarmed by Fang’s behavior and activities that around 2015 they alerted Swalwell to their concerns — giving him what is known as a defensive briefing,” Axios reported. “Swalwell immediately cut off all ties to Fang, according to a current U.S. intelligence official, and he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.” 

Fang allegedly aided Swalwell by bringing in top donors for his campaigns. As noted in Rebel News’ previous report, Fang left the country for China after her cover was blown. 

Swalwell responded to the report late on Tuesday by suggesting that the Trump administration was responsible for leaking the story to Axios. However, Axios never said that the story was leaked to them, rather that their story was the result of a “yearlong investigation.” Furthermore, one of the reporters on the byline of the Axios story, Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, is considered to be a top reporter on China and has broken major stories on China’s concentration camps. 

“I’ve been a critic of the president. I’ve spoken out against him. I was on both committees that worked to impeach him. The timing feels like that should be looked at,” Swalwell told Politico. “What it appears though that this person — as the story reports — was unsuccessful in whatever they were trying to do. But if intelligence officials are trying to weaponize someone’s cooperation, they are essentially seeking to do what this person was not able to do, which is to try and discredit someone.” 

Swalwell refused to discuss the controversy surrounding his relationship with Fang. “As the story referenced, this goes back to the beginning of the last decade, and it’s something that congressional leadership knew about it,” Swalwell stated. 

Fox News highlighted Swalwell’s previous remarks regarding Trump and Russia. 

The former 2020 presidential candidate had become best known in recent years for his outspokenness of the Russia investigation. He repeatedly insisted that Russians colluded with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, something Special Counsel Robert Mueller ultimately put to bed.

However, during a 2018 interview with The Hill, long after he had received a “defensive briefing” on the suspected Chinese spy that infiltrated his office, Swalwell sounded the alarm about the Russians’ involvement in American politics after suspected Russian spy Maria Butina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government after her attempts to infiltrate the NRA and GOP circles.