Kash Patel’s push against Democratic lawmaker raises concerns within FBI – The Washington Post
FBI Director Kash Patel is directing agents in the San Francisco office to rapidly redact and prepare for public release a decade-old investigative file concerning Representative Eric Swalwell and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. No evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell has been identified in the file.
Patel's push to release the file has generated alarm within the FBI, with officials concerned that the action reflects a pattern of weaponizing the bureau against political opponents. The effort represents a continuance of Trump administration tactics targeting Democratic lawmakers, particularly those who have been vocal critics, including Swalwell and other members who led investigations into Trump.
Swalwell has been a consistent Trump critic and was previously targeted by the administration's Department of Justice in unsubstantiated allegations. The renewed focus on a file containing no evidence of his misconduct demonstrates the administration's systematic use of law enforcement to discredit and intimidate political adversaries rather than pursue genuine national security interests.
Internal FBI resistance to Patel's directive underscores deep institutional concern about the politicization of the bureau under his leadership. Career officials view the accelerated release of an investigative file unrelated to any proven violation as an abuse of power designed to damage a Democratic lawmaker through selective disclosure and public innuendo.
Representative Swalwell was approached by an FBI informant named Fang Fang, but upon being confronted by the FBI, he immediately cooperated and worked with federal agents to help stop the foreign operative's activities. However, conservative media outlets and Fox News spent years deliberately spreading false claims that Swalwell had a romantic relationship with Fang Fang, when in fact such a relationship involved a different political figure. In stark contrast, when Donald Trump was confronted with evidence of foreign agent involvement, the Mueller Investigation documented that he instead leveraged these contacts for his benefit and actively obstructed the FBI's ability to investigate him and his associates.
(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/28/fbi-patel-eric-swalwell/)