Exclusive: A suspected Chinese intelligence operative bundled donations for Eric Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign.

The operation targeted politicians in California & across the country.

Read Axios' year-long investigation, by me and @zachsdorfman: https://www.axios.com/china-spy-california-politicians-9d2dfb99-f839-4e00-8bd8-59dec0daf589.html

The suspected operative, a Chinese national named Christine Fang, enrolled as a student at Cal State East Bay in 2011.

Fang’s friends and acquaintances said she was in her late 20s or early 30s, though she looked younger and blended in well with the undergraduate population.

She was the president of the Chinese Student Association and the campus chapter of APAPA, an Asian American civic organization. She was really, really good at running these clubs, and held a flurry of events that raised their profile -- and hers.

While she was a student at CSU East Bay, Christine Fang also had regular contact with a suspected MSS officer under diplomatic cover in the San Francisco consulate, though U.S. intelligence officials believe her main handlers were based in China.

Christine used her position as president of these two campus organizations to branch out into local off-campus politics. Between 2013 and 2015, she experienced an almost meteoric rise in Bay Area politics, becoming a ubiquitous presence at fundraisers and other political events.

Christine Fang was "everywhere," to quote several people who knew her. She appears in photos with Eric Swalwell, Ro Khanna, Judy Chu, and Mike Honda, and numerous mayors, state assembly members, town council members, staffers, and other prominent politicos.

Through campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships, Fang was able to gain proximity to political power.

Christine Fang engaged in sexual or romantic relationships with at least two mayors of Midwestern cities over a period of about three years, according to one U.S. intelligence official and one former elected official.

At least two separate sexual interactions with elected officials, including one of these Midwestern mayors, were caught on FBI electronic surveillance of Fang. One of these encounters occurred in a car with a mayor from Ohio.

The alleged operation offers a rare window into how Beijing has tried to gain access to and influence U.S. political circles. The Chinese Communist Party knows that today’s mayors and city council members are tomorrow’s governors and members of Congress.

Close relationships between a U.S. elected official and a covert Chinese intelligence operative can provide the Chinese government with opportunities to sway the opinion of key decision-makers.

Beijing may aim to influence foreign policy issues directly related to China, or issues closer to home, such as partnering with Chinese companies for local investment — an issue particularly salient among local-level officials such as mayors and city council members.

Chinese Americans find themselves in a difficult position in 2020, being squeezed both by influence campaigns from the Chinese government and a rise in anti-Chinese racism in the United States.

"We want to fight against racism, we want to call it out," Gilbert Wong, the former mayor of Cupertino who had interacted with Christine Fang on several occasions, told Axios. "How do we address this issue without infringing on Chinese American rights?"

Rep. Ro Khanna, who also interacted with Christine Fang, expressed concern about the potential "chilling effect" of surveillance on Chinese American political participation.

"While I respect the need for law enforcement to protect our nation from espionage, we need strict guardrails to make sure the FBI’s investigations do not have collateral damage to the privacy of American citizens or to the legitimacy of Asian Americans," said Khanna.

This story took an immense amount of reporting. We spoke with 4 current and former U.S. intelligence officials, as well as 22 current and former elected officials, organizers, activists, and former students who knew Christine Fang personally while she was in the U.S.

This story would not have been possible without the editing and support provided by @alisonmsnyder @sarakgoo @AxiosNick @scottros and others

For more scoops and exclusives on China, sign up for my once-weekly newsletter Axios China here: https://www.axios.com/newsletters 

A statement from Swalwell's office: "Rep. Swalwell, long ago, provided information about this person—whom he met more than 8 years ago, and whom he hasn’t seen in nearly 6 years—to the FBI. To protect information that might be classified, he will not participate in your story."

After Rep. Swalwell received a defensive briefing from US intel officials, he immediately cut off all ties to Christine Fang. Swalwell was never accused of any wrongdoing.

The worst (and most inaccurate) possible lesson to take away from the story of Christine Fang is that Chinese students on campus are a threat. The extraordinary and unique nature of her case indicates the exact opposite—that it is vanishingly rare for the MSS to students as cover